


Captured! Ichigo's Battle for Freedom and the Fall of Aizen

by Snowcouger



Category: Bleach
Genre: Gen, Implied Relationships, Non-Canonical Violence, Shonen-ai, Tourture, cursing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-12
Updated: 2010-09-12
Packaged: 2017-10-11 16:58:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 52,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/114604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snowcouger/pseuds/Snowcouger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is ovbiously an older work, canon'verse blew this out the window years ago.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

He sat, huddled in the center of the room, knees hugged to his chest, eye's closed, seemingly asleep.

He never moved.

He bearly breathed.

Then, finally, a sign of life.

The door opened and he looked up.

His skin was pale and swallow, like someone that hadn't seen the light of day in months, maybe even years. A twisted monster stood in the door way. It never spoke. It didn't need to. The man stood, agonizingly slowly. The creature motioned with a twisted hand.

The man laughed.

"Tell me what I want to know!"

"Hahahahahahah!"

"Tell me and this will stop!"

He turned his head, the motion alone enough to tear the over-strained muscles in his neck and shulders. "Can't break me! You ain't good enough!"

"Insolent fool!"

Still cackling, "Stick and stones may break my bones, but you'll never break me!"

"Your Hallow can't protect you forever Kurosaki! Even you must know this!"

"Not gunna work 'cause Ichi's not here! I'm in charge and that mean's you're just wastin' you time!"

Aizen spat, "Fine! Take this fool away."

Two mutilated creatures untied the ropes that bound the body of Ichigo Kurosaki to the streching wheel. They grabbed his bleeding and cackling form and dragged it from the room, Aizen glaring at it the entire time.

"Did you really have to tear the muscles again?"

"Ain't my fault he's taken a liking to the steching wheel again this month," yawned Hichigo as he settled their body back onto floor. "And anyway, I don't see you taking any of that torture."

"Hey, you volunteered. Now give me back control of my body!" They wrestled for dominance,with Ichigo of course winning.

"Man King, your heart sure wasn't in that fight. You almost let me win there."

"Feh, you know the only reason I still fight at all is because it gives me something to do."

(Never knew ya ta be a quiter there, Ichigo.)

"Oh fer the love a... Stop that already. I told ya, it got old months ago."

"Wasn't me aibou."

"Like I believe that," grumbled Ichigo.

"Maybe yer just finally going bonkers!"

(Oh lay off'em ya stupid Hallow.)

"Isn't that Abari's voice?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Hehe. He's been sounding off in yer head a lot lately. There something ya haven't been talling me about him King?"

"Oh grow up," he grumbled.

(Yeah, quiet being stupid.)

"Renji, not that I don't appriciate the support, but I really don't wanna be reminded a just how close to going as nut's a Aizen is I really am."

(Fine, have it your way.)

Eight days past with nothing eventfull happening. They were used to it by now though. The cycle was the same, always. Month of isolation, couple of days of torture, repeat. The only break in the monotany was the infrequent ocassions when they fed it. Sometime's it was once a week; other's, once a month.

So it was no real surprise when the small opening at the base of his cell door opened and a bowl of gruel was shoved through.

He sighed, reached for it, and swallowed the entire inetable mass at once. He cucked the bowl against the door with a mildly satisfying clunk before settling back into his almost confortable position.

The door opened again.

"Huh?"

A loaf of bread was shoved unceramoniously through.

"The fuck?"

Ichigo stood up and walked over to where the bread had settled.

"No way..."

"He actually gave you a loaf of bread?"

"Apperently..." He poked at it with his foot, almost certain it was some kind of booby-trap. "It's gotta be poisoned or something."

"No way. He want you alive, remember. Why would he start poisoning you now?"

"I dunno... You've seen how much worse he's gotten lately."

"True."

"Maybe it's spiked with some kinda truth seruim..."

Awww come on, King. If he had somethin' like that he woulda used it already."

(Ya Hallow's got a point there Ichigo.)

"Welcome back Renji," he grumlbed sarcastically. "And please for the love of Kami don't encourage him."

(I'm just sayin', if Aizen had the means ta make ya talk, he woulda used it already.)

"Yeah, 'cept he's fucking nuts."

"Yeah, but so am I and I wouldn't a waited this long ta do it."

"Thank's for pointing out the obvious..."

"Just break a peice off an eat it already. We both need the energy and you know it."

(Can't hurt.)

"Oh, now you're on his side then?"

(No, but he's making more seense then you are at the moment.)

"Ugh... I'm being tag-teamed by my Hallow and the crazy voices in my head..." He reached down, picked up the loaf, broke off a small peice, and ate it.

"See King. Told ya it was good!"

"S'only been an hour, idiot. Gotta wait at least a day to be sure."

(Be more overly cautious Ichigo.)

"I'm about three second away from killing you both right now, so how's about you shut the hell up and leave me alone!"

(Fine.)

"Kill me and you die too aibou. Forget about that?"

"No, but I can sure as hell knock you out for awhile you..."

Ichigo stopped midsentence when the door opened for a third time that day.

"My Master request's your precense in the throne room."

"The hell? Has it been a month already?"

"My Master request's your precense in the throne room."

Ichigo stood, "I guess you're not going to tell me anything..."

Another of Aizen's pets entered the cell and grabbed him by the shoulder, "Move human trash."

"Aren't you the one that's usually in the torture chamber laughing at me?"

"Oh yes. And I must say, I've missed the day when you screamed in agony for all those glorious hours. Your Hallow lacks the entertainment value."

"So sorry to dissapoint you."

The thing growled a warning and Ichigo quieted.

"Welcome Kurosaki Ichigo," greeted Aizen as they entered the throne room. "Please, sit." He guestured to a rather comfortable looking chair that was positioned directly in front of his throne.

"I'd rather stand if It's all the same."

"But I insist." The creature that had escorted him shoved him bodily into the chair. "Much better."

"What the hell do you want you fucking maniac?"

"Such language from such a young boy. Please, we can dispell with the use of such crassness. This is a civilized court."

"Civilized my ass."

Aizen ignored the last bit of vulgarity and continued with, "I have a deal for you."

"Deal eh? Pass."

"You haven't even heard my terms."

"Like I care. You haven't got anything I want."

"Oh? I think I do."

"Doubtfull."

"What would you say if I told you that I am offering you your freedom."

Ichigo blinked. "My freedom?"

Aizen nodded...

...and Ichigo laughed.

Hard.

Like, tears streeming down his face, lungs about to explode kinda laughing.

Hell, Hichigo was about to drown himself he was tearing so hard as he rolled on the wall of the skyscraper he'd been standing on.

"Please, laugh all you wish. I daresay you've earned a good laugh, what with everything that you have been through over the past year.

"Freedom pant that's a pant good one!"

"I wasn't joking Kurosaki."

"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight..." they both drawled, still cackling like rabid monkeys.

Aizen allowed them to laugh themselves silly for a few minutes longer before saying, "Can we continue?"

Ichigo, red-faced and out of breath, pulled himself back up onto the chair. "Thanks Aizen. I really needed that."

"You are quiet welcome. But I was serious when I said that I am not joking. Will you at least listen to my proposal?"

"Yeah, yeah. Sure."

"In exchange for your freedom, all I ask is that you win a fight."

Ichigo blinked, "A fight?"

"To the death."

"Ahhhhhhhh. Makes sense." He nodded thoughtfully before continuing, "And just for the sake of argument, who would I be fightint if I agreed to your little death match? Ichimaru? Or maybe Tousen?"

"Neither. Unfortunatly, Ichimaru fell to that inpudent little child Hitsugaya Toshiro last month. And Tousen was killed by Komomura and Zaraki during the last incursion by your Shinigami friends three months ago."

"Ahhhh. Good riddence I say. An Espada then?"

"Wrong again. My Espade are far too busy in the human world to be bothered with fighting you. Although GrimmJow would love another chance to defeat you."

"I'll just bet he would. So then, who would I fight?"

"Why, it's very simple Kurosaki. You would be fighting me!"

"You?"

"Of course! Why would I give anyone else the pleasure of killing you slowly and painfully?"

"Right... And what, still for the sake of argument mind you, would happen if I refused?"

"Then you would forit your life. And my dear pets would so love it if you did. They've been informing me of all the creative ways they have to make you scream."

"I just bet they have. So what's the big catch?"

"Catch?"

"Yeah, how are you going to make it so that you have every single possible advantage?"

"Ahhh yes. My only condition is that you refrain from the use of your Hallow and his powers."

"Well, much as I do hate him, I don't think that forcing me to forgo use of my Hallow powers, when you so obviously will be using yours, if just a tad bit unfair."

"And what makes you sure I won't limit myself in a similar fashion?"

"You're an egotistical maniac with a God complex that lives for the torment and pain of any and all things that you don't control."

"Fair point, Kurosaki. Fair point." He grinned, "Seeing as you have no chance either way, I shall allow the use of your Hallow powers."

"Still haven't agreed to it."

"So you'd rather I set a play date for you with my pets?"

"I didn't say that either."

"Then what is your problem."

"Do I look like I'm in any shap to fight you?" He gestured at his broken and mangled body.

"True, you aren't in the best of fighting condition. But that's never stopped you before, now has it?"

"Fine. I agree to the damn fight."

"Excellent!"

"So? Shall we get started, or do you want a few minutes to gather your pets?"

"No, no. We shant fight today. I shall give you a month to rest and recooperate. I suggest you use the time wisely."

He nodded to the ceature that stood behind Ichigo. It grabbed Ichigo by the shoulders and forced him to stand.

"Oh and Kurosaki. The bread wasn't poisoned."

"Told ya, King."

"Shut up!"

The creature kicked Ichigo to get him moving. "So Kurosaki, you shall be fighting my master."

"And?"

"It will be such a delight to see you fall."

"I'll just bet. Well, you can tell your nut-job of a master to shove-it. I'm only doing this because I'd rather take him on then get eaten by you sorry excusses for leftover Hallow parts."

"Do not insult the master!" the thing screeched as it slapped him.

"He's your master, not mine."

"Pitiful human filth. You will learn respect. Even if it's is during your last breath." It heaved Ichigo through the open door of his cell and slamed the door shut, locking it tight.

"Kami I hate that thing..." he grumbled as he rubbed his sore jaw. He pushed himself up off the floor and stopped dead.

They'd cleaned his cell.

"Holy..."

"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn... this place wasn't even this clean the day they though us in here!"

"Yeah..." He walked over to the bed and sat down. "Oh man..." he groaned, eyes shut. "That's so much better then the damn floor..."

His nose twitched and his stomache growled. "Is that sniff food I smell?" He opened his eyes and looked across the room. A fairly large table inhabited a space that had previously been empty. It was covered with food and drink of all types. "Real food..." he sighed dreamily. He almost got up to get some when his rational mind spoke up. "Ugh... it's probably spiked..."

"That's what you thought about the bread aibou! He even said it wasn't tampered with! And you know he want's this fight. You could see it in his eyes. What kinda sense does it make to poison a guy you want to have a real fight with?"

"Why the hell are making so much sense this week?"

"Dunno. Guess when I start going bonker's I make sense. I'm the oposite of you ain't I?"

"True enough."

"Come on, King. We need ta get back some of our energy already. I'm not saying ta stuff yer face or anything, just eat something."

(Listen to him Ichigo.)

"Your back again?"

(Can ya be any happier ta hear me there, Ichigo?)

"Not really in the mood to deal with my insane voices right now."

: Stop acting like a child and eat something Ichigo. :

"Did you...?"

"I think so?"

"Zangetsu?"

: Who else would I be? :

"But... where are you? I don't see you anywhere!"

: Can you be any more blind? I'm right in front of you! :

"You are?" He looked around for a minute before spotting the glint of light off steel. He shoved several plates of food away and finally found Zangetsu. "Eish, they had ta bury you didn't they..." He reached down and picked up his sword, feeling the welcomed warth that spread through his arm andinto his soul, filloing the void left when he was separated from his fighting partner.

: Much better. :

"Kami it's good to have you back Zangetsu."

: I am pleased to be back. I see you and Shirosaki have managed to survive without killing each other. :

"Oh yeah. We're best buddies now!"

"Shut up!" He growled as he retreated into his inner world to speak face to face with them. "Don't make me beat the crap outta you again."

: Behave. Both of you. There's much work to be done and not much time to do it in. :

"Work? You mean training right?"

: Partially, yes. But we must also plan for the upcomming fight. :

"Okay. Fire away."

: Why are you looking at me? :

"You don't have a plan?"

: Of course I don't. You must create one yourself. :

"Awww come on Zangetsu, you make better plans then I do."

: I thought we had moved past you realying solely on my power. :

"Ha! You keep that up King and I might just decide ta challenge you for real again."

"Ugh... I hate you both."

: I suggest that we take a break for now. Sleep on it Ichigo, and we can continue in the morning. :

"Probably the best idea," he nodded.

"Uh aibou? Can you let me have control for a little while. I really wanna go ta town on the food."

"Sure, why not. I need some time to practice my stances again."

"Thanks!"


	2. Chapter 2

(Yanno, staring at tha' ceiling all night isn't gunna help ya any.)

"Do you really have to bother me at all hours of the night?"

( 'm just saying.)

"Whatever..."

: Who are you talking to Ichigo? :

"Eh? Nobody. Just my brain playing tricks on my again."

: That can't be it. If it was, I should not have heard it. :

"Wait, what? You can hear Renji too?"

: Yes. His voice is nearly as clear as yours is. :

"That's weird..."

"Huh? Think maybe you're not losing it?"

"How am I not losing it if I'm hearing voices other then the two of you?"

"I dunno. Zangetsu's the expert in that crap."

: I am unsure myself. :

"Oh that's comforting."

(Huh...)

"What?"

(Dunno. Always thought that if ya had Zangetsu with ya ya coulda escaped.)

"I didn't have him untill a few hours ago."

(Oh.)

"Whaddya mean, 'oh?'"

(Nothin'. Just explains a lot.)

"Whatever..."

All was silent for a few minutes.

(I wonder...)

"Eh?"

(Well, if I can hear your Hallow and Zangetsu, can you hear Zabimaru?)

"What brought that on?"

(Curiosity I guess. And the fact tha I'm about half asleep.)

( : What about me now? : )

: Hello Zabimaru. :

( : Zangetsu! Nice ta hear from ya again. How ya been? : )

"Well, this is wierd."

(Yeah...)

" Hey King, ya might wanna get in here."

"Why?"

: Just get in here Ichigo. :

"Fine, I'm comming." He closed his eyes and went to his inner world. "Now what's so important that..."

"My thought's exactly, aibou."

"Huh? So this is what yer inner world looks like..." muttered Renji as he looked around. "Always kinda wondered about it."

"Renji?"

"Hey Ichigo. Nice ta know ya really are alive. I was starting ta wonder if Isane was right and I was having a mental breakdown there for awhile."

"Uhhh... don't take this the wrong way er anything... but what are you doin here?"

"Not a clue."

: So Zangetsu, how ya been? :

"Zabimaru? You're here too?"

: Aperentally. :

: Ichigo, stop gawking and let's get down to business. :

"How is this not wierd for you?"

"Yeah, I'm just a little bit confused myself."

"Me too."

: I don't know how this is possible, but I think you should be gratefull to have the added help. :

"I never said I wasn't. Just trying to wrap my head around how all this is possible."

"Oh man, Kurotsuchi-taicho'll have a field day if he ever hears about this..." groaned Renji.

"Urahara too," sighed Ichigo.

"Oh the homecomming you'll get. Ya shoulda seen the Sereitei when Yamamoto-soutaicho called off the search. I swear, even Kuchiki-taicho wanted ta open a portal and keep looking."

"No way! Even Byakuya wanted to come?"

"Right? I never woulda guessed either."

"How'd Kenpachi take it?"

"He wasn't too happy. Spent the rest of the day griping about losing his best sparing partner."

"Oh man, the 11th's gunna kill me..."

"Naw, most of them aren't pissed at you."

: Boys. Focus. :

"Right. Sorry."

: So? Anyone have any ideas? :

"How about you two wait outside while Ichigo and I blast our way out?"

Renji, Ichigo, and Zabimaru laughed. Even Zangetsu smirked a bit.

"That's tha' dumbest idea I've ever heard!"

"You so have a death wish!"

"Do not," he grumbled.

: Sure sounds like it! You try an' bust outta here like tha' and you're all dead. :

: They have a point Shirosaki. We aren't powerful enough to escape using nothing but brute force. :

: Not alone you don't. But maybe with some help from the outside? :

"Eh? What'cha mean Zabimaru?"

: Well, a single person trying to break out is suicidal. That's pretty much a given. :

"I think I see where you are going... If we time the attempt to be covered by an invasion, then there's a chance that we could sneak out undetected!"

: Yeah. That's about right. :

: Hmmmm... It could work... But we'd have to time it precicely. :

"Yeah... and the invading force would have to be pretty big."

"Not ta mention we'll need a bunch of Taicho and Fukutaicho in there to cause a big enough distraction for you to escape."

: Oh that's gunna be a problem :

"How ya gunna get enough of um ta come all the way out here ta get ya if they think yer dead?"

"Most of them don't believe your dead. Hell, Ichimaru's favorite bait was telling everyone that you where alive and that he knew where you were."

"Bastard," growled Ichigo.

: Defenatly. :

"How many can you convince to come?"

"Um... Zaraki and Hitsugaya and Hisagi-taicho definatly. Maybe even Kuchiki-taicho. Most of the other Fukutaicho too, since most of them love ya. Hell, the entire 11th and most of the 6th divisions would sign up for a rescue mission if they knew it was for you."

"How ya gunna convince the old man ta let ya do this?"

"Oh yeah... that's gunna be hard."

"Yeah, the old man already pronounced you dead, so I doubt he's gunna let us conduct another rescue, 'specially one that's gunna carry as high a casualty rate as this one will."

"We're gunna have ta get Urahara and the other's in on this. Maybe Sandal-hat can figure out a way."

"Good idea. If not, we'll just hop his portal here and wing it like we always do."

"Yeah, but I doubt any of the guys are gunna want to throw there carreers, not to mention lives, away for an unsanctioned mission to Las Noches."

"Have you met the 11th division?"

"Good point."

: If you can convince Byakuya and Toshiro to back ya, then you'll have a much better chance of getting Yamamoto to go along with this. :

: I agree. You must convince as many senior staff as you can. :

"You think Ukitake and Kyouraku might go along with this?"

"Dunno. Ukitake more 'n likely would, and he'd bring Kyouraku with him."

: Help's that they like you. :

"Yeah, most of the taicho like you. Too bad Shyuuhei isn't much help."

"They finally made him a full taicho?"

"Yeah, 'bout a month after ya got captured. But he's too close to you to be taken seriously. No objectivity."

"Any chance that Unohana or Soifon would help?"

"You know Soifon, she hates everything. And Unohana won't publically back any kinda mission like this. But unofficcially, she'd prolly send Isane along with her best squads."

"What about Kira and the 3rd?"

"Kira'd throw himself at the chance ta come get ya. Ya saved his ass and he's been kicking himself ever since. He feels like he let ya get captured."

"Idiot. It's not his fault."

"We all know it, but he's still beats himself up about it all the time."

"Tell him I don't blame him. That might help."

"Won't help for me to tell him. Yer gunna hafta do it when ya get outta here."

"Hey King, what'er the chances that if ya get outta here they'd offer you captaincy of a division?"

"'The hell you babbling about?"

"I'm serious. You've gotta be the only person that's ever taken on the entire Gotei 13 and survived, and now you've made it through a full year of Aizen's hospitality. Seriously, you were a legend before, but now they're gunna devote entire class at the academy ta ya. Yer a freaking hero ta a lot a the shinigami you'd be in charge of. Kinda makes sense. Yanno, making the hero of Soul Society a powerful Taicho."

: Is he always this random? :

: Worse actually. It seems he's calmed down a fair bit over the year of incarceration. :

:Woulda thought he'd be worse. :

"He get's out more now. Like's to hackle Aizen during torture sessions."

"Tha's gotta be fun."

"Oh yeah. I've come up with some stuff that made his head spin before."

"Have ya now?"

"Stop encouraging him," pleaded Ichigo. "He's got enough of an ego without you making it worse."

"Sorry."

: It is getting late. Maybe we should continue in the morning? :

"Probably a good idea. I'm havin' trouble stayin' awake."

"Me too know that I think about it."

"I'm not. Let's keep going. I haven't had this much fun in months!"

"Oh go away already you stupid Hallow."

"Fine, fine. Have your fun with the pretty boy..." he shimmered and dissapeared.

: Pretty boy? :

Trying very hard not to blush, "I'm gunna kill him..."

: I'm gunna go now... Goodbye Zangetsu, Ichigo, Renji. :

"Yeah, see ya Zabimaru."

: Goodbye old friend. :

: I shall take my leave as well. I'd advise you to get some sleep tongiht Ichigo. We are going to need you at your best for when we begin training again. :

"Alright. See you in the morning."

His dissapeared into his corner and left Ichigo and Renji alone inside Ichigo's head.

"Pretty boy?"

"Shaddup. He's just trying be to an idiot..."

"You sure about that?"

"What?"

"Well, I remember Urahara sayin' somethin' 'bout how he's kinda like yer Zanpakto in tha' he shares memories 'n junk, so I kinda figured he was channeling you there fer a sec'."

"Why'd you think that?"

"Dunno. Sounded like something you'd say."

"What makes you think I'd ever say something like that?"

"I dunno, but ya haven't denied it yet."

"Why do I suddenly feel like I'm in a no-win situation?"

"Dunno. Why do ya feel like yer in a no-win situation?"

"Oh stop it already. Just kiss and get it over with!"

"Shirosaki! I'm gunna beat you to a bloody pulp tommarow!"

"Hehehe, he's got an interestin' sense a humor."

"Think so? He's more of an annoyance really."

"I guess if ya hafta listen ta him day and night he'd get annoyin'."

The stood in silence for a few minutes.

"Yanno, I think I spent too much time over in yer world. I keep looking around expecting ta see the windows light up and hears cars 'n stuff everywhere."

"Heh. Yeah, it can get disconcerting her at night. You now there's nothing to worry about, but you just feel weird in a city that's so quiet."

"Not ta mention tha' whole thin' about it bein' oriented on a different plane then normal."

"Oh don't remind me. Kami, first time I ever came here I thought I was gunna fall off the side of the building. I flattened myself into one of the window depressions so fast I about jumped outta my clothes. Zangetsu just stood there staring at me like I was an idiot."

"I thin' I woulda too. Nothing's guarreenteed ta scare tha' shit outta ya faster then tha' world flippin' on it's side."

A bell tolled somwhere off in the distance.

"That's not on my end."

"Tha's the bell for a Senior Staff meeting. Haven't heard that since they called off the search parties..."

"That can't be good."

"Prolly not. I'd better go. Prolly wouldn't be good to have Rikichi run in on me while I'm in here."

"Okay. Let's try for closer to sunset then midnight tommarow, okay?"

"Yeah. I got morning duty anyway. See ya then."

"Yeah."

Renji grinned and dissapeared.

Hichigo popped outta nowhere. "So?"

"So what?"

"Ya know you wanted ta say something else ta him."

"Go away and let me go to sleep." He opened his eyes and sighed.


	3. Chapter 3

"Renji! Slow down!"

Renji looked up and stopped, "Shyuuhei, wha's tha' matter?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing. You were totally tuned out through the entire meeting."

"Yeah..." He rubbed the back of his neck with a far off look in his eyes, "Been kinda tired lately."

"And you where fiddling with your sword belt the entire time, why?"

Still with the distant look in his eyes, "No reason really. Juss a bad habit I guess."

"It doesn't have anything to do with having nightmares, does it?"

"Whaddya mean?"

"Rikichi told me."

Renji blinked, confused. "Told ya wha'?"

"That he heard you mumbling in your sleep this afternoon."

"I was?" He was still staring off into the distance, not really listening.

"Yeah, something like '...Ichigo's alive... he's not dead... gotta help him... gotta figure out how ta bust 'em out...'"

Renji didn't speak for a long moment.

"Well?"

Still nothing.

"Renji, answer me. Have you been dreaming about him again?"

"Huh? Oh, well... yeah. But it's nothin'..."

"Nothing my ass. It's enough to get you so distracted from your work that you've been ignoring Yamamoto-soutaicho in meetings again."

"I was paying attention!"

"Uh-huh," nodded Shyuuhei. "What was he talking about then?"

"Somethin' 'bout Kurotsuchi's scientists comin' up with a better Hallow detection device an' improvin' tha' range on tha' older ones."

"Well, at least you heard the first bit," he said, head tilting to one side. "But I'm amazed you missed the rest."

"Eh? What'd he say?"

"Okay, now I know something is really wrong with you..." said Shyuuhei. "You can't honestly tell me you missed the giant roar of activity half way through?"

"Um... I might a noticed somethin'... but I didn't really catch anythin'... too loud..."

"Okay then..." Shyuuhei thought for a second before continuing, "I need to go and talk to a few people, but I'll be back. Just do me a favor and go home. Okay?"

"Huh? Home? Alright. Was headin' there 'nyways."

"Good. I'll see you in a few minutes."

"Right. See ya..." He didn't even blink when Shyuuhei shunpo-ed away at top speed. He resumed his walk back to his quarters, mind already on other matters.

"I'm serious guys! He's not himself. I've never seen him so distracted. Renji didn't even hear Yamamoto's announcement!"

Ikkaku choked on his sake and Yumichika startled.

"Exactly!"

"He hasn't appeared distracted to me," said Yumi in his flowery voice.

"Yeah, whenever I've seen him he's been juss fine," added Ikkaku gruffly, wiping the sake off his face with a sleeve of his shihaksho.

"Yes, but you didn't see him at the meeting. I even confronted him afterwards and he just stared past me the entire conversation. He was so gone that he didn't even hear half of what I said." He told them of the conversation, including the part about Rikichi's concerns about Renji's dreams.

"If he's dreamin' about Ichigo again, then it's no wonder he's distracted," said Ikkaku after Shyuuhei finished.

"Yes. Considering their relationship before the attack..." Yumichika let the sentence hang.

"We need to talk to him. If it gets to the point that the other's notice, then they'll take him off the mission, and we need him there. He knows the layout of the area better then almost all of us and we can't afford to be down a taicho if we can help it. It's bad enough Yamamoto wants us in there without Soifon, Unohana, and Ukitake. If they take Renji off..."

"...Then there is a very good chance that we will lose. Again."

"Exactly."

"Well, let's go then. No point waitin' any longer then we need ta."

"Ikkaku, what exactly do you plan on doing when you get there?"

"Hell if I know," he shrugged.

"I so love your well thought out plans," sighed Yumi dramatically.

"Shaddup. You got anythin' better?"

"Unfortunately, no. What about you Shyuuhei?"

"Not really. I just know we have to try and talk some sense into him before he gets himself committed."

"I agree," nodded Yumi. "Shall we?"

Ikkaku shrugged and downed the last of his bottle of sake.

: Renji, you shouldn't have spaced like that during the meetin'. :

"I know that... but I couldn't help it. Listenin' ta the old man is hard enough when I'm not distracted, but tanight was too much. I just can't get my mind off a Ichigo."

: Fair point. But you got Shyuuhei worried, and the last thing we need is him doubtin' ya right now. 'Specially since we're gunna need his help later. :

"True..." He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I just wish there was more I could do right now. It helps bein' able ta talk and see him, but havin' ta leave him in that hell hole is killin' me."

: I know it's hard... but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. "Course, 'm all fer just openin' a portal ta Las Noches on yer own and breakin' him out alone, but even Hichigo would admit that's suicidal. :

"Yeah... too many Hallows and Arrancar around ta fight by myself."

: Cha' think? :

("I still say we can do it.")

"Weren't you guy's gunna get some sleep?"

("Ichi is. I'm too hyper to sleep very much. Seriously, I haven't had that much fun in months. Wish it wouldn't a ended so fast.")

"I guess. If plannin' escape attempts is yer idea a fun, then you'll be a right fountain a plans by tomorrow night, right?"

("Prolly.")

: Zangetsu wouldn't happen ta be awake, would he? :

("Dunno. He's off in his emo corner somewhere. Want me ta pass alon' a message?")

: Naw. It can wait. :

("If ya say so.")

A firm knock followed by a call of "Renji?"

"Yeah Senpai, it's open!" he called back. "Hang on a sec..." he whispered.

("I'll be here.")

Shyuuhei, Ikkaku, and Yumichika walked into Renji's living room.

"Hey guys," he greeted. "What's goin' on?"

"Was gunna ask ya the same thin'," said Ikkaku as he leaned comfortably against a wall.

"I'm worried about you Renji. You're not acting like yourself," answered Shyuuhei as he sat on the chair opposite Renji.

"Shyuuhei tells us you've been distracted lately. He also said you spaced during an Officer's meeting. Is this true?" asked Yumi as he settled elegantly onto Renji's couch.

"Well... kinda..."

"Kinda? Kinda what? Did you or did you not space during the meeting?"

"Alright, geeze. Yes, I spaced durin' tha' meetin'. Not like anythin' interestin' happened..."

"Nothing interesting! Renji, Yamamoto approved the mission back to Las Noches!"

"He did wha'...?"

"Baka! You're finally getting another chance at Aizen!"

Far from the explosion of emotion they expected, Renji answered in a small voice, "When?"

Silence, followed by a hesitant reply of, "A month from now," from Shyuuhei.

Renji was silent for a few minutes.

"Renji?" asked a concerned Yumichika.

"What day?"

"I dunno... He only said a month from now..."

"I need the exact date!" he demanded loudly.

"Renji, Yamamoto didn't give the exact date yet... just that we had to be ready in less then a month..."

More silence...

"Um..."

"Fine..." sighed Renji. "I guess we'll hafta leave tha' part open fer now..." he said, appearing to the others to be talking to himself.

"Who're you talkin' to?" asked Ikkaku, now genuinely concerned for his friend.

"What?" blinked Renji.

"You said 'that part will hafta wait.' Who where you talking to?"

"Oh... Zabimaru right now..."

"I know that look Renji. What aren't you telling us?"

"Nothing," he lied. "What's there ta tell?"

"What're you and Zabimaru plannin' ta do?"

"I said nothing," he countered, not convincing anyone. "I'm not plannin' anythin'."

"Liar. I can see it in your eyes," retorted Yumi with an elegant flick of his head. "You are hiding something from us."

"Listen ta me. There's nothin' goin' on. 'm not plannin' nothin'."

"Bull. Tell us what's going on!"

: Renji. Tell them. We're gunna need um later anyway. :

"Fine. But yer gunna hafta explain some of it, 'cause I sure as hell can't."

"Renji?"

"Hang on a sec, Zabimaru wants ta say somethin'." He concentrated and materialized Zabimaru. The zanpakto spirit appeared near the center of the room, nue head focused on Shyuuhei, snake head alternating between the other two.

"Hello Zabimaru," greeted Shyuuhei.

: Hey Shyuuhei. I hear ya been worried 'bout Renji. :

"Sort of. Any chance you'll tell me what he's got planned that got him so distracted from everything right now?"

: Well, I could tell ya, but ya sure as hell wouldn't believe me, so 'm not sure what tha' point'd be. :

"Try me."

: Alright... Ya asked fer it. : He was silent for a moment, as if gathering his thoughts. : Juss, hear me out before ya say anythin'. :

"Fine. I can live with that. Guys?"

"Eh, why not?"

"I am listening."

: Well, we've actually been spendin' tha better part a tha' last day er so plottin' ways ta break Ichigo outta Las Noches. :

They all blinked. That was the last thing any of them expected. But true to their word, they didn't say anything.

: Yeah, sounds nuts right. I mean, it's been a year already. If he'd survived we'd have heard something right? And hell, surviving alone in Hueco Mundo is practically impossible, even for a vizard. But it gets better. He wasn't lost in that battle. At least, not how we thought. He survived alright. But he was captured by Aizen, and has spent the last year being tortured by his sick little pets. :

Zabimaru paused to let the effect of the words sink in.

"Yer prolly wonderin' how we know all this..."

Shyuuhei nodded, his brain still working over the information.

"Well... We've managed to contact him."

"WHAT!"

: Hard ta believe, I know. But it's the truth. :

"There's no way!"

"You've both lost it!"

"How can you expect anyone to believe you?"

"Because it's the truth!"

"Prove it then! Show us how you can communicate with him."

"Um..."

: We can't. :

"Why not?"

: Because we're not all that sure how it works. :

"Okay, that makes it so easy ta believe ya," said Ikkaku sarcastically.

(: Renji, I think I've figured out how the connection works. :)

"What's that Zangetsu?" he whispered.

(: Take off my belt for a minute. If I'm right, you won't be able to hear me when it's off. :)

"Alright, hope this works," he mumbled as he unclasped the sword belt he wore around his waist and set it on the table.

"Isn't that Ichigo's belt?" asked Ikkaku.

"Yeah..."

"You still have it? I thought you were gunna give it ta his ol' man?"

"I was, but when I handed it to him, he said I should keep it. Said that Ichigo woulda wanted me ta have it."

"Nice a him..." he muttered, still examining the belt from where he leaned.

Renji nodded as he picked up the belt again.

: ...that the belt is acting like a medium of some kind. :

"Repeat that Zangetsu. I picked ya back up half way through tha' last sentence."

: Good. I was right. The belt is acting like a medium between the two of you. That's why you're able to speak to each other, even thought you're in different dimensions. Now, I want you to hand the belt to one of the others. I would suggest Shyuuhei. :

"Right. Hope this works..." He turned to Shyuuhei, "This is gunna sound weird, but can ya hold on ta this fer a minute?"

Shyuuhei blinked, "Okay...?" He took the offered belt...

...And promptly dropped it.

"What the hell?"

Renji's eye's lit up, "Ya heard him?"

"Yeah, plain as day. That was Zangetsu, right?"

"Seriously?" said Ikkaku as he knelt and picked up the belt. "Well I'll be. That's Zangetsu alright."

"Let me try," said Yumi with an air of childish curiosity. Ikkaku handed him the belt and his eyes widened further. "Wow..."

"Okay, ya've had yer fun. I need it back now," grumbled Renji as he swiped the belt back from the others. "Okay Zangetsu, I think they believe us by now."

(: So it worked then? :)

"Yeah," he said, once again wrapping it securely around his waist. "They heard ya loud and clear."

(: Good. I'll leave you to talk with them. I should have a decent explanation for you in the morning. :)

"Thanks." Returning his attention to the others, "So? Now tha' ya believe me, wha' now?"

"What's the plan?"

Ichigo yawned sleepily, stretching cat-like across the bed. His muscles felt better then they had in months after finally having a chance to do some decent healing.

"Yer finally up."

"Unfortunately. I was enjoying sleep."

"Well, hurry up and eat somethin'. Zangetsu's been busy all night working on stuff and has a lot to talk about."

"Right," he yawned as he picked up an apple and bit into it. "Anything from Renji yet?"

"Yeah, who d'ya think he's been talking too the whole time?"

"Oh he didn't... I told him to get some sleep!"

"Not Zangetsu's fault. Blame Shyuuhei and the boys. Renji was so distracted during the meeting that they confronted him about it. Turns out he's been spacing on and off fer the last few days and they were gettin' worried. And that kid Rikichi heard him mumbling' in his sleep again."

"Great... now we're in trouble."

"Ya'd think tha', but Zangetsu fixed that. They believe him, and they sat up all night planning on their own."

"How do you know?"

"I was listenin' in on them. And I passed along 'messages' from Zangetsu all night."

"Uh-huh," he grunted at he threw away the core of the apple and took a swig of water.

"Don't worry aibou. I didn't say anythin' incriminating er anythin'. Actually managed to be helpful. Well, Renji said so anyway."

"Really, I kinda find that hard to believe."

"Ask Zangetsu when he comes back. He'll vouch fer me."

"Where'd he go?" he asked as he reached for a loaf of bread.

"Dunno. He said he needed ta think about some stuff and dissapeared to where ever he goes fer his alone time."

"Ahhh," he grunted thickly through a mouthful of bread. Swallowing, he continued with, "But you guys did manage to get some sleep last night?"

"I been up all night, but I don't usually sleep anyway, so whatever. Dunno 'bout Renji, though. He and the boys were up pretty late."

"Well that's just great. Didn't he say he had morning gate duty?"

"Yeah, but I think he got Shyuuhei ta cover for him."

"Gotta remember to thank Shyuuhei sometime..."

"Oh and Zangetsu's figured out the connection," added Hichigo as an after thought.

"He did what!" yelled Ichigo.

"Hehehe. Yeah, took him all of an hour er so."

"How?"

"Ask him later. All I know is that it has somethin' ta do with the sword belt. He tried ta explain it ta Renji, but I got confused 'bout a quarter of the way through and tuned him out. You'd prolly have a better chance a understanding it anyway."

"So wait, how'd he figure it out then?"

"Dunno what gave him the idea, but he told Renji ta take off the belt and hand it ta Shyuuhei. Freakin' nut dropped it the second he heard Zangetsu talkin'. Then Ikkaku grabbed it, confirmed it was Zangetsu speakin', passed it off ta Yumi, who sounded like a kid in a candy store fer some reason, Renji took it back and Zangetsu said 'I got it' and dissapeared inta his corner."

Ichigo blinked, "But Yumi didn't really sound like a kid in a candy store, right?"

"Yeah, he kinda did aibou."

"Creepy, but believable," he shrugged and sat on the edge of his bed. He closed his eyes and went to his inner world. "So then, feel like telling me what you guys came up with while I slept?"

"Only if ya feel like have a decent spar."

"Kami knows I need the practice," he said as he picked up his sword and dropped into his normal stance.

"Yay! A decent fight fer once!" cackled Hichigo happily.

"So basically what you're saying is that we use the mission back to Las Noches to cover an escape attempt."

"Pretty much, yeah."

"How're ya gunna get Yamamoto ta agree ta that? He's already declared Ichigo dead. Yanno how suborn tha' ol' man is, once he make up 'is mind, he'll never change it."

"We ain't gunna tell 'em," said Renji firmly. "We can't risk it. If he finds out, he'll cancel tha' mission and we'll never get another chance."

"Renji, there's no possible way to organize this without him finding out, even if we restrict the plan to only the most important people. Especially if you want Kuchiki-taicho's help."

"Don't ya think I already thought a that!" he bellowed angrily. "What ever happens, he's gunna find out in tha end. Best it be only those a us tha have the power ta cushion tha fall know about this. Rest of 'um can say they're ordered ta do it." He glanced over at Ikkaku and Yumichika, "Hell, it's you guys tha gotta worry tha most."

"Wha' tha hell ya talkin' 'bout Renji. Yer the ringleader in this plot, whadda'ya think he's gunna do ta you?"

"Worst he can do ta me is execute me fer treason." He grinned, "And yanno he'd never get away with tha'. 'Specially if we do get 'em back."

"I just love how you are willing to throw everything away on one long shot mission."

"Yumi, I don't know 'bout you, but I tend ta have the best luck on long shot missions."

"He's got a point there, Yumi."

"Luck will only get you so far."

"Always a first time fer everythin'. Juss gotta hope this ain't it."

"Fine. But please tell me that there is a contingency plan or two."

"Still workin' on tha'. Hopefully Zangetsu can come up with some good one's before it's too late."

"Yer leaving the plannin' up ta Zangetsu?"

"Naw, gunna get Urahara in on this. Whadda'ya think I am, stupid?"

"'Course. Between Zangetsu and Urahara we'll have a perfect plan in no time."

"Yeah, well. Gotta get a hold of Urahara first. Haven't exactly had time ta send 'em a message yet."

"Well what the hell are you waiting for?"

"Ya kinda made it hard ta do 'nythin' Shyuuhei. Spent tha last two hours in here with you three."

"Right. Has it already been two hours?"

Renji looked at the watch he'd bought last time he was in Karakura. "Yeah. Shit, if yer gunna take mornin' gate duty then ya get goin' pretty quick."

"Oi crap!" Ikkaku face palmed. "We gotta take tha' newbies out fer a survival drill tammarow!"

"Oh no! I completely forgot! We have to get back to the barracks and get ready!"

"Well, at least I'm not the only forgetful one around here..." Renji deadpanned.

"We'd better get going. It's gunna be a long week."

"Okay, but don't tell anyone just yet. I gotta get Urahara up ta speed first. And fer tha love of Kami, don't tell Zaraki-taicho yet! He's likely ta grab you guys an' Yachiru 'n try ta get Ichigo out himself."

"Right. We keep this between us for now."

Urahara was mildly surprised to see the hell moth fluttering just outside his window. "Now who could that be from," mused the eccentric shop keeper. He opened the window and the moth fluttered over to him, landing on his out-stretched finger.

ICHIGO'S ALIVE!

Need yer's and Yuroichi's help.

Sorry 'bout tha late hour, but' couldn't wait 'til mornin'. Yamamoto's approved the mission back ta Las Noches. We got a month 'till we go back. Thing is, we haven't told soutaicho 'bout Ichigo yet. And we prolly won't either. Not smart, I know, but he'll cancel the mission the second he finds out what we plan ta do.

Need help plannin' ways ta distract Arrancar and Aizen enough fer Ichigo ta sneak out without much of a fight. He's not in any kinda condition ta take on many hallows and survive it.

We got tha general ideas worked out. Need help with fine points mostly. I'll send info on what we got after ya reply ta this message

Abarai.

"Well, that's the last thing I expected." He put the thingamabob he'd been working on down and set the hell moth down on the table with a, "Please wait here for a minute. I have to discuss the message with Yuroichi." The moth sat still on the table, it's way of acknowledging the request. Urahara walked out of his lab and down the hell toward Yuroichi's room. He knocked and called, "Yuroichi, still awake?"

The door slid open, "Bit late Kisuke. What's on your mind?"

"I just got a very interesting message from Renji Abarai..."

That morning...

Renji, having passed out over his desk from sheer exhaustion an hour before hand, didn't see the hell moth fluttering just outside his window. Nor did he feel it rap against his forehead repeatedly until it's wing were bent and it had to land on the window or else risk getting trampled on the floor when Renji woke up.

The poor moth would have stayed there for several hours yet, if not for the keen eyes of Rikichi as he snuck around the office looking for a notepad to leave the message that he was sent by the squad leader of the teams doing field training to deliver.

"Hello little fella," he said, stopping in front of the window. "You trying to get to Renji?"

The moth only fluttered weakly, tired from the long flight and beating itself against Renji's thick skull.

"Must be important if you'd beat yourself up over it..." He glanced back at the form of his sleeping taicho. He sighed, "Better just wake him up..." He moved next to Renji and shook the red-head's shoulder gently, "Renji, wake up. Taicho, you have a hell moth waiting."

Renji gave a great snore and continued his blissful sleep.

"Taicho," he tried, louder. "Come on Renji, you have to wake up. It's past breakfast already and there's taicho's meeting in an hour. Please taicho, Rukia-fukutaicho will kill you if she comes in and you're still sleeping."

An almighty snore, loud enough to shake the walls of the office, and Renji finally woke up.

"Wha'..." he blinked sleepily. "Wha's goin' on?" He turned and saw Rikichi, "Rikichi?"

"Sorry taicho," he apologized. "It's just, you've over-slept, there's a taicho's meeting in an hour, and you have a hell moth waiting for you."

"Hell moth?" His eyes lit up, "Oh right! Urahara's reply!"

The hell moth had already fluttered over and was waiting for the excited taicho to calm down a bit. It flew up and landed on Renji's forehead, since his hands were too busy doing a complicated little dance of their own.

Always knew there was no way Ichigo was gunna die that easily.

Yuroichi and I are in. Haven't had time to contact the other's just yet. Can almost guarantee Isshin's help in this one though. He hasn't forgiven Yamamoto for giving up on Ichigo so fast. What's the plan?

The hell moth, having delivered it message, took off before Renji could say anything. It was terrified of being sent out again.

"Taicho?"

"Wha'? Oh right. What else is there Rikichi?"

"Um... squad leader Aoba said that they would be delayed an hour finishing the drills. One of the younger members was injured and they had to halt until he could be transported to the 4th's hospital."

"How bad was he injured?"

"They think it's only a broken leg, but he may also have bruised a rib or two."

"Fine..." he sighed. "Just means I gotta sign more paperwork later. Tha' everythin'?"

"Yes sir," he nodded.

"Righ'. You 'ken go back ta tha field now, Rikichi."

The third seat nodded and turned to leave. He stopped in the door way and asked tentatively, "Taicho?"

"Wha'?"

"Um... I know this isn't any of my business, but were you contacting Urahara-san about Ichigo?"

Renji's eyebrows shot up, "Wha' gave ya tha' idea?"

"It's just... well... the look on your face when I said the hell moth was here. You haven't looked that happy in months. I thought... it might have had to do with Ichigo is all."

"Yer a smart kid Rikichi," said Renji softly. "Don't worry 'bout tha'. Juss get back ta work fer now."

"Of course taicho," he said crisply and sped off toward the training fields.

"Always knew tha' kid was special. He's got one sharp mind..." Renji stood and straightened his shihaksho, paying special attention to his haori. No point in having the other taicho's pay him any kind of attention just because he was getting sloppy in his inpatient state. He readjusted the red sword belt that was always wrapped around his waist.

(Renji? You awake yet?)

"Course I am," he said, glad Rikichi had already left.

(Hichigo told me about last night. When'd you finally fall asleep?)

"'Bout dawn-ish. Sun was up anyway." He left his office and headed down the halls of the 5th division. "Wha' 'bout you? Ya get much sleep?"

(Yeah, got enough anyway. Just finished sparing with Hichigo, so I'm a bit sore. Felt good though, and I need the practice. Getting rusty.)

"Naw, not rusty. Juss needed ta warm up a bit."

(Yeah, that's true enough. Heard from Urahara yet?)

"Yeah, few minutes ago. Poor hell moth beat itself up tryin' ta wake me up."

(Ouch.)

"Yeah. 'Nyway, he said tha' him and Yuroichi are in. Hadn't had time ta contact tha other's yet, but I sent tha' moth pretty late last night. Interestin' note, he said there's a good chance yer dad would join us out there. Apparently, yer dad was way more pissed then he let on 'bout Yamamoto callin' off tha search when he did."

(Huh boy... This is going to get interesting if my dad's out there.)

"No argument there..."

"Renji?"

The taicho startled and turned around, "Who's there?"

Rukia jogged up to him, "Who're you talking to?"

"Wha's that? I wasn't talkin' ta 'nyone."

"Yes you were. I heard you say, 'no argument there.'"

"Oh, tha'. Was juss thinkin' out loud."

"Uh-huh. And is there and particular reason why you didn't notice me behind you? I wasn't exactly being subtle about it."

"Not all tha' 'wake yet. Kinda overslept."

"I know, I was in the office half an hour ago trying to find those requisition forms for the new uniforms. You were making the walls shake."

"Hehehe," he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Yeah, Shyuuhei and tha' boy's kept me up really late, and tha' senior officer's meetin' already had me wide awake an' in work mode, so I didn' fall asleep 'till nearly dawn."

"Funny, you didn't seem all that hyper after the meeting. If anything you were acting like you hadn't heard a word that soutaicho said."

"Yeah, juss took a little while ta hit home is all."

"Right..." she said, not believing him at all.

"Listen, I gotta run back ta my quarters really fast before the taicho meeting an' I'm already gunna be cuttin' it close, so I kinda need ta get goin'."

"Oh yeah, almost forgot about the meeting. Go, can't have you being late."

"Thanks Rukia." He turned to head to his quarters and was about to shunpo off when a flag went up in his head. "Oh yeah, before I forget. Shyuuhei an' I are puttin' tagether a little get-tagether tanight in his quarters. Starts 'bout 8-ish. Ya gunna be able ta make it?"

"I'll be a little late. Nii-sama wants me to attend dinner with the family tonight, but I can skip the socializing afterwards."

"Great," he grinned. "See ya after tha' meeting," and Renji shunpo-ed off.


	4. Chapter 4

"So?"

"She said she'd be late, but she'll be there."

Shyuuhei nodded, but didn't respond, as Yamamoto-soutaicho had just entered the room. Renji scrambled to his assigned position quickly, hoping ta Kami that the ol' man hadn't noticed where he'd been standing. The glares from Soifon and Byakuya where bad enough.

The room was deathly quiet, as all waited for Yamamoto to open the meeting.

"I have just been made aware of information pertaining to the planned incursion to Las Noches. Normally, I would wait until later in the meeting to address this, but I find this is of much higher priority then listening to endless technobabble from the research division."

Several of the taicho's glances around, completely caught off guard by their commander's unusual behavior. The ol' man was a stickler for rules and protocol, so that made this bit of information that much more vital.

"I have been informed, through my own extremely reliable sources, that there are several individuals planning a secondary mission within the forces being deployed."

Renji heart slammed so hard against his ribs that he swore he could hear Komomura's armor creak as the fox spirit glanced down at him.

"Sensei," began Ukitake. "What kind of mission?"

"From what I was told, I believe that the parties involved are planning on using the incursion to mask an escape attempt."

Every fiber in Renji's being was screaming : busted!

Shyuuhei looked decidedly green around the gills.

"Escape attempt?" coughed Ukitake.

"Yes," affirmed Yamamoto.

"But, who could they possibly be hoping to extract from Las Noches?"

"That is a good question Ukitake-taicho. My source could not say, and I doubt they overheard the name of the person trying to escape. Needless to say, we must find the parties involved and stop them. Distraction such as this will inevitably lead to nothing but more death and injuries for our side."

"Have you no clue as to the identities of the involved parties?"

"No. The source said that they may be among the senior staff of several divisions, so I charge you to be wary of any unusual behavior. Report anything out of the ordinary immediately.

The fact that Renji's face was already paler then Ukitake and Hitsugaya' hair and that Shyuuhei was well on his way there went completely unnoticed by the soutaicho.

"Now that that is out of the way, I shall open the meeting by allowing Kurotsuchi-taicho to present his weekly reports..."

Renji practically stumbled out of the meeting hall.

"Renji? Are you alright?" asked Ukitake. "You look ill."

"I'm alrigh' Ukitake-taicho. Juss ate somethin' tha' didn't agree with me."

"You should visit the 4th's healers. Last thing you want is to miss duty over food poisoning."

"I migh' do tha'. Arigato Ukitake-taicho." He grinned weakly and headed off in the direction of the 4th division.

Ukitake watched him walk away, slightly alarmed at the unusual behavior he'd just seen. Hisagi had been acting weirdly as well.

When he was sure he'd gone far enough, Renji used shunpo to get to his office and locked the door. Thankful that only Rukia had a key to get in and the the window faced out over the 5th's training grounds and not one of the public halls, he summoned a hell moth.

Tha' was way too close Senpai. How tha' hell'd he figure it out already!

He sent the hell moth on it's way and summoned another to send to Urahara.

Shyuuhei got the message just as he reached his own office. He sent back:

I don't know, but that was way too intense. You looked like you were going to faint for a minute there. And I'm pretty sure we all heard that thunk halfway through. What the hell was that? We gotta be more careful. Only way anyone could have overheard us is if they were just outside your quarters last night. Or intercepted the hell most you sent to Urahara-san. But that's impossible. The bugger wouldn't have given anyone else the message. Something weird is going on here. Well, weirder then everything else anyway. Thank Kami it's normal for us to have parties like tonights regularly or else we'd be screwed.

He sent the moth back to Renji, picked up his Zanpakto, and headed out to afternoon training. No way in hell he was going to alter anything about his usual routine, not with all the other taicho on the look out for suspicious activities.

Jinta and Ururu were sweeping the front of the shop when the hell moth arrived. Jinta stopped and leaned against the broom handle, "You looking for Urahara?"

The moth fluttered, it's version of a 'yes.'

"He's down in the basement training room." He opened the door of the shop and the moth fluttered inside. It went through the trapdoor in the floor and flew to where Urahara was standing, halfway to the other side of the field.

"Ah, you must have Renji's reply, yes?"

It just fluttered down and landed on the offered finger.

The message was simple, the basics of the plan as they had them, some of the ideas that the boys had come up with, along with suggestions from Hichigo and Zabimaru.

He'd just finished listening to the message when another moth flew in.

The first took off and the second took it's place.

Major problem! Yamamoto knows! Someone tipped tha' ol' man off!

Has ta be someone on my end, but we can't figure out how they're doin' it. Only thin' any a us can come up with is someone was listenin' in on us last nigh' when we were plannin' in my quarters. But tha' doesn't make any sense, 'cause then they woulda had ta suspect somethin' before hand an' there was no reason ta. You know a any way ta get a hell moth ta tell ya a message not meant fer ya? Prolly impossible, i know, but gotta check.

If there is, then shit, 'cause tha's gunna make keepin' ya guys in the loop tha' much harder, and with Yamamoto on tha' look out fer any kinda weird behavior, we're never gunna be able ta get leave ta get out to Karakura and talk face ta face.

"Well that's not good."

"What's not?"

"Someone's on to them," he replied.

"That was quick," whistled Yuroichi. She was relaxing in the hot springs after a bit of sparing with Kisuke. "You would think it would have been at least a week before someone tipped the old man off."

"Yes, but I'm inclined to agree with whichever of them thought that Yamamoto was spying on Renji. It's virtually impossible to make a hell moth deliver a message to anyone but the intended individual, but it is possible. Then again, if they'd intercepted the hell moth, then they'd know exactly who was involved and what was going on, not just general ideas. My guess is, Yamamoto's trying to stop something like this from happening before it even starts."

"What are you going to tell Renji?"

"What do you think?" he said as he gave the reply to the hell moth.

It's virtually impossible to make a hell moth deliver a message to anyone but the intended individual, but it is possible. Then again, if they'd intercepted the hell moth, then they'd know exactly who was involved and what was going on, not just general ideas. My guess is, Yamamoto's trying to stop something like this from happening before it even starts. Just don't go and make yourself conspicuous Be wary though, it's possible that the ol' man is spying on you. He's got to be worried that you would do something just like this.

Renji deadpanned, listening to the message, "Great..." He slumped over his desk and sighed.

(Bad news?)

"Yeah," he grumbled. "Yamamoto's on ta us..."

('The hell? How did he find out so quick?)

"I don't know..." he moaned.

(So we're screwed then...)

"Not if I 'ken help it. We're juss gunna hafta be more careful 'bout when we meet up and how we communicate."

(Good thing you're all pretty close already. Doesn't look suspicious when you hang out.)

"My thought's exactly."

(What're you gunna do about Rukia? You think she'd tell?)

"'The hell Ichigo? Have you met Rukia?"

(Good point. Had to ask though.)

"Yeah, yeah. Zangetsu come up with anything new yet?"

(Not sure. He's been off in his corner all day.)

"Well, at least he'll have plenty ta talk 'bout when he comes back..."

(Hopefully.)

"Ugh...my head hurts."

(Welcome to my world. I've had a headache since day one.)

"Considerin' tha crap they been doin' ta ya, tha's not surprisin'."

("I take most of tha crap Aizen dishes out, so I'm tha one tha should have tha headaches, not Ichigo.")

(Quit complaining. You enjoy it ya freaky hallow.)

("Heheh, it's fun making him angry.")

"You have some serious issues Hichigo." Renji glanced at the clock on the wall, "And I'm goin' ta be late fer lunch if I don't leave now..."

(Go on then. We'll still be here when you get back.)

"Don't remind me. Still sucks havin' ta leave ya there fer 'nother month." He sighed and stood up to leave.

"Come on Ichigo, cheer up."

"Don't feel like it," sighed the vizard as he lay on the bed staring at the ceiling. "Just want to get this over with and get the hell out of here."

"Hey, I hate it here as much as you do. Sure, I got no problem's hangin' out in Hueco Mundo, but Las Noches is bad enough ta creep me out. As much fun as a fight ta tha death sounds, I'm not lookin' forward ta goin' against Aizen any more then you are."

"Now I know we've got to get out of here quick. You're making way too much sense now."

"Ya'd think tha's a good thing."

"Not saying it isn't. Just weird. And you know me, I don't like weird."

"Yeah, enough weirdness in yer normal life."

(: Ichigo, ya there? :)

"What's up Zabimaru?"

(: Renji asked me ta pass along a message. :)

"Okay, shoot."

(: He said we're pushin' the meetin' back three hours tanight. Byakuya in all his noble glory volunteered ta take Kira's gate duty. Seems Kira's third seat got a little too inta their spar an' managed ta get under his guard. Their both gunna be in the hospital fer a couple a days. :)

"Oh that was smart. How'd he let a third seat get him like that?"

(: Dunno. But Kira's never really gotten over everythin' tha' happened so it's a wonder this doesn't happen more often. Anyway, Rukia's not gunna be able ta get away from her family now, so yer gunna hafta lose some sleep. :)

"Well, it can't be helped. We really need Rukia in on this. Alright then, tell Renji I'll be waiting."

(: Will do. :)

"It's gunna be a long day..."

Hichigo chuckled.

"Taicho?"

"..."

"Taicho?"

"..."

"Renji?"

"..."

"Hellooooooo...?" Rikichi waved a hand in front of Renji's face, "Renji? Anyone home?"

Renji finally blinked and looked up, "Wha's goin' on?"

Rikichi sat down across from Renji, "You spaced out taicho. I'm pretty sure the rice bowl is terrified of you by now, you where glaring so hard."

"Heh," he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, easy ta get sidetracked when yer not sleepin' well."

Rikichi nodded, "Anything you want to talk about?"

"Yeah, when'd ya become a psychologist?"

"When you spend as much time with the 4th as we do, you start picking up stuff. Why do you think the other divisions like having us around so much? Strong as the 11th, smart and calm as the 6th, and as good with first-aide as anyone from the 4th."

"True enough," Renji poked at his food. "Feh, I miss tha food at Ichigo's house. Yuzu always made really good food."

"You really miss him, don't you taicho."

"'Course I do. He's one a my best friends. It's not right, leavin' 'em there fer so long. And the ol' man's always beggin' fer his help when shit happens, then abandons him tha' second he needs us. Ain't right, none of it."

"Not right at all. We're supposed to be here to protect other's, but all we seem to ever do is leave them behind."

"Tha's right. Everyone's always sayin', 'Leave no one behind!', but we're always doin' it. 'Specially with Ichigo 'n his group. Wha', so juss because they ain't shinigami, they ain't worth goin' after? Hell, Ichigo is a damn shinigami an' he's just been tossed aside an' forgotten! Ugh, it's all wrong!"

Rikichi looked around, concerned. Renji was getting a bit loud now and some people from the other divisions where starting to watch them. Thinking quickly, he said, "Come on Taicho, let's go somewhere less crowded. I know a nice spot down by the river that's a perfect place to vent."

Renji looked at him fer a minute. "Tha's prolly a good idea. Don't need anyone runnin' off ta the soutaicho sayin' I gone nuts."

"I heard something about that," nodded Rikichi as they made their way through the halls of the 5th division. "Rukia-fukutaicho was saying that there was some plot to get something out of Las Noches under the cover of the incursion."

"Yeah, dunno where he gets his information though. No one's stupid enough ta try somethin' like that."

"Actually, it sounds like something you'd do, taicho."

Renji stopped dead. 'No way. It can't be Rikichi. There's no freakin' way Rikichi ratted us out!'

"Taicho! What's wrong?"

Renji shook it off, "Sorry. Juss, be careful sayin' stuff like tha'. Yamamoto's got everyone lookin' out fer whoever's plannin this an' he'll take anythin' seriously at this point."

Rikichi paled, "I'm sorry, Taicho! I wasn't thinking about that."

Renji smiled weakly, "S'okay. Juss be more careful 'bout wha' you say."

: Tha' was close. You sure the kid's not tha' one tha' ratted us out? :

'I trust Rikichi with my life. The kid wouldn't do anythin' like that.'

"... sitting under that tree in the 13th..."

Renji wasn't hearing half of what the kid was saying. His mind was too occupied with trying to figure out who the hell could have ratted them out, when the only people that knew anything were the last ones to turn informant.

"... Renji? Are you ever going to stop spacing and focus..."

Renji's head snapped up and he looked down. Rukia was standing in front of him, with a 'what-am-I-going-to-do-with-you' look on her face.

"Wha' did I do now?"

"Aside from completely ignoring Rikichi here, you about ran over me twice. And worse then that, you haven't heard a word I've said."

"Sorry, juss can't seem ta focus today."

"Kinda figured that out already. What is with you? I want the truth this time, not some lame excuse."

Renji looked around, and once sure they where alone replied with, "Both of you, Shyuuhei's, tanight. I'll tell you then."

"Both of us," blinked Rikichi.

"'Course Rikichi. I need everyone I can trust in on this, and you're right up near the top of that list."

Rukia and Rikichi stared.

"It is you Renji... You're the one Soutaicho's looking for," whispered Rikichi, the ghost of a grin on his face.

Rukia wasn't so impressed. "What are you thinking you baka, going behind Yamamoto-soutaicho's back like this! Are you trying to get yourself killed!"

"Keep yer voice down Rukia! Yer gunna get me killed if you don't."

"What the hell are you thinking!"

"It's fer Ichigo! We're tryin' ta get him outta there 'fore tha' demented bastard ken kill him!"

Rukia blinked, "Come again?"

"Ya heard me," he said, voice forced into a neutral tone. "Ichigo's still alive an' we're gunna bust 'em out."

"Have you gone nuts!"

"Stop yellin' already!" He grabbed her shoulders and stared her down, "Yamamoto's prolly got me under surveillance, so we shouldn't even be havin' this conversation here. If ya ever wanna see Ichigo alive again, then you'll be there tanight. I have proof he's still alive, but if ya get me caught then we're all dead!"

"Who else is in on this already?"

"Who do ya think?"

"Right... so when exactly had you planned to tell me?"

"Tanight a'course. An' don't give me those 'I-can't-believe-I'm-tha'-last-one-ta-find-out' eyes, cause yer not. In fact, I woulda told ya last night, but Shyuuhei an' tha boy's kept me busy an' I never got tha chance."

"You better have some damn good proof, Renji."

Now it was the boy's turn to stare.

"You wouldn't turn him in, would you fukutaicho?"

"Normally, no. But with the way he's been acting lately..."

Renji's jaw dropped.

"Taicho...?"

"I can't believe you Rukia... After everythin' he did fer ya... This is how ya repay 'em..." He sighed, turned around, and shunpo-ed off.

"Fukutaicho, please," begged Rikichi. "I know taicho's been acting weird, but I still trust him. If he says that Ichigo is alive, then Ichigo is alive. You of all people should know that much."

"Normally I'd agree. But right now, I just don't know." She sighed, "Go back to your duties Rikichi."

"Yes fukutaicho."

"Rukia wouldn't rat us out. It's against the Kukichi's honor code to do something like that," whispered Shyuuhei as they waited for Yamamoto to appear and start the meeting.

"I'm not so sure about that Senpai. Yamamoto basically ordered all of us to, so she really doesn't have a choice there."

"Then isn't telling her everything the last thing we want to do?"

"She already knows," he sighed. "I told her and Rikichi earlier."

Shyuuhei blinked. "Idiot!" he whispered harshly. "If you thought she's the one that would rat us out why'd you tell her!"

"I didn't know yet damnit! She didn't say anythin' 'bout it 'till after I'd told 'em ta be at yer place tanight an' Rikichi figured it out first 'nyway!"

"Well, they haven't hauled you off yet, so that's a good sign. I just hope she believes us..."

"Me too," he nodded. "If not, well, we'll both be in a jail cell by the mornin'."

Shyuuhei sighed, "We'd better get ready. Yamamoto'll be here any second."

Renji nodded and walked to his position on the other side of Komomura.


	5. Chapter 5

"Moment a truth, eh?"

"Shaddup Ikkaku. Not in tha mood."

"'M just sayin'. She's gunna tell Yamamoto if ya can't convince 'er."

"I know tha'!" He squeezed the bottle of sake in his hand so hard it cracked.

"Ikkaku, stop baiting him," warned Yumichika. "We cannot afford a fight at this point."

"Yeah, and I very much like my furniture," added Shyuuhei. He kept shifting his glance between the windows and the door, his way of keeping a look out. "You sure Rikichi's not the rat?"

"If I can't trust Rikichi, then I sure as hell can't trust any of ya."

"Do we really need ta bring him in on this? I mean, sure, he's a third seat an' all, but I thought we agreed ta bring only who we absolutely needed in."

Yumi glared angrily, but still managing to look dignified and oddly graceful.

"Yanno I didn't mean ya. Idiot, we all know yer gunna get forced ta take tha' fukutaicho spot fer Shyuuhei pretty damn quick, so ya don't count."

"He's right Yumi. Yamamoto won't let you turn it down either. Especially since he knows about your Bankai. If I hadn't already been confirmed as the full taicho then they would put you over me and kept me as a fukutaicho."

"You've practically got Bankai already, so don't throw that at me. I just managed to get there first."

"Can we not fight over who's better suited ta be taicho of tha 9th already. It's gettin' kinda old."

"Yeah," nodded Shyuuhei. "And I see Rikichi coming."

"Rukia with him?"

"Don't see her..." he said, moving closer to the window to get a better look.

"Ikkaku, yer on!"

They'd planned it out to where whenever someone arrived, one of them would pick up on an old story or fake-start a fight, the kind of stuff that's expected out of a party with these guys.

"...And then Iba said, 'Those aren't my sunglasses! Mine don't have rainbow tinted lenses!"

They all faked laughed as drunkenly sounding as possible.

"Remember tha' time Rangiku got smashed on some a yer really good stuff, Yumi?"

"Which time," he laughed. "The one when she decided that dancing with a tree was better then trying to get Shyuuhei to escort her home?"

"Naw, not that one! Tha one when Hitsugaya was there and she tried ta get him ta dress up in one a Momo's ol' Halloween costumes!"

"Right! That disturbing black elf fiasco! That was priceless!"

The knock could be heard through the rounds of fake laughter. Shyuuhei nearly bolted to the door, and had to wait a few moments before opening it, lest it look too suspiciously like he was waiting behind it for the third seat to arrive. "Rikichi! Didn't think you'd be able to make it!"

He smiled nervously, "Yes, well, we managed to finish evening duties sooner then expected. Thank you for inviting me, Hisagi-taicho."

"Any friend of Renji's is welcome here," he said as he ushered the younger shinigami in.

The laughter stopped instantly and they all once again wore masks of seriousness.

"You know why your here, right?" asked Shyuuhei, all trace of joviality gone now.

"Yes, Hisagi-taicho. Abarai-taicho told me."

"Rikichi, forget the titles while yer here," said Renji. "I know it's still hard fer ya, since ya've only been a third seat fer a few months, but in here titles and rank are only goin' ta get in tha way."

Rikichi nodded, nervous.

"Right, so now we just have to wait on Rukia and Rangiku and everyone is here."

"Iba can't make it?"

"No, they've got night drills this week."

"Great..."

"Guys, it's telling' Rangiku a good idea? I mean, she wouldn't go an' rat on us on purpose er anythin', but she's a blabber mouth an' we all know it."

"We know Ikkaku, but we're going to need the 10th's help for this or else it isn't going to work. Rangiku has a better shot as convincing Hitsugaya then any of us do."

"But can we trust her not ta blab?"

"It's a risk we have to take," said Yumi gravely. "There is no other choice."

Nods of agreement from the others.

"Alrigh'... If ya say so."

Another knock at the door.

"Damn!" swore Shyuuhei and Renji lunged for the window to see who it was.

"Rukia!" he called back, relieved.

"Thank Kami..." muttered the relieved taicho as he went to open the door. "You're alone?" he asked, before letting her in.

"Of course I am," she replied.

"Good," he moved to let her in and bolt the door. "We were worried there for a minute."

"What, afraid I'd tell on you?"

"From what Renji and Rikichi have been saying, frankly, yes."

"Still haven't ruled out the possibility yet. You guys had better have some damn good proof this isn't all in your heads."

"Oh, it's good alright..." He sat down in his chair, "Should we wait for Rangiku, or just get on with it?"

"Anyone know when she said she'd be here?"

"With Hitsugaya refusin' ta let 'er leave 'till tha paper work is finished, could be hours."

"Right, then we'd better just start now and catch her up when she gets here."

"Where ta begin..." mumbled Renji, thinking.

"How about this proof you where going on about."

"Why didn't we thin' a tha'," grumbled Ikkaku sarcastically.

"Ikkaku."

"Sorry," again laced with sarcasm.

"Still waiting on that proof, Renji."

"Look in front of you woman," grumbled Ikkaku.

Yumi and Shyuuhei glared at him this time.

Rukia just stared, "I don't see anything but a wall."

"Oh fer tha love a... Pick up tha damn sword belt."

She looked at the table and blinked, "Where'd you get that?"

"Had it the whole time Rukia." He picked up the sword belt and said, "Ready Ichigo?"

(Yeah, we're ready here. Zangetsu finally came back.)

"Good, gunna pass it ta Rukia now."

(Okay.)

"Take it Rukia," he said, ignoring the strange look on her face.

"Not until you tell me what's going on."

"Trust me, it's easier to explain afterwards," said Shyuuhei. "I didn't believe any of this either at first."

"Please Rukia," he practically begged.

She sighed, "Fine. What do I have to do?"

"Juss take it and talk. He'll hear you."

"You'd better be right," she grumbled as she took the offered belt. "This had better not be a trick."

(Hey Rukia. Please tell me you haven't called Yamamoto's goon squad to come and arrest Renji and the rest.)

"It's not possible..." she startled, amazed and confused.

(Hehehe, same thing Shyuuhei said last night.)

"But how...?"

(You'd have to ask Zangetsu that.)

"How can I ask Zangetsu about it?"

("Hehehehe, it's easy, ya ask him same as ya would Ichi er me!")

"What the hell !"

(Sorry about that. He's a bit impatient.)

"Was that...?"

(My Hallow? Yeah.)

"But that's not possible!"

(Oh come on Rukia, what's it going to take for you to believe this is real?)

"..."

(Rukia?)

Renji shook his head and grabbed the other end of the belt, "She's in shock at the moment."

(Huh boy, it's going to be a long night.)

"Hang on a sec, if you can both use the link at the same time, then what about the rest of us?"

Renji stared at him, "I never thought a tha'."

(Thought of what?)

"Hang on a sec Ichigo," he said as he tugged the belt from Rukia's grasp. He spread the belt out on the table. "Everyone get over here and get a hand on part of the belt. If this works, then we won't have to play 'pass the belt' all night."

There was a few minutes of confusion as they all tried to find a comfortable position around the small table.

"Everyone got a hold?"

"Yes," came the echoed reply.

"Ichigo, can ya hear us all?"

(Think so? I can hear you, Rukia, and Ikkaku. Might just be too many of you trying to talk at one time.)

("I heard Yumichika I thin'.")

"Rikichi, say somethin'."

"Um... Hi Ichigo?"

(Hey Rikichi. You sound as nervous as Hanatarou usually does.)

The boy grinned, "I guess I kinda am a bit nervous right now."

"Hear me Ichigo?"

(Yeah Shyuuhei. You're loud and clear.)

"Good, tha's everyone righ' now. Gunna hafta shove someone off when Rangiku gets here."

(Rangiku's not there yet?)

"No. Hitsugaya's being evil and makin' her work all nigh'."

(That sucks.)

(: Everyone. Focus. We can save the happy reintroductions and what not for later. There is a lot to do and not much time. :)

"Was that Zangetsu?"

(Of course. Who else would it have been?)

"This is weird..."

"Hey Renji, remember what you where saying last night... about speaking face to face with him."

"I dunno if tha'd work. I'm not even sure yet how I ken do it."

"What are you talking about? You can actually see him?"

"I wouldn't put it like tha'. It's... complicated."

"Explanation please."

"It's 'nother one a those 'easier ta show then tell' kinda thin's."

"Okay..." she said, getting annoyed at the all beating around the bushes he'd been doing. "Show me."

"Wish I could, but I dunno how," he shrugged. "Zangetsu, you figure that out yet?"

(: I haven't been working on that particular phenomenon. I believe I have a theory though. :)

"Go on."

(: What were you doing when you first managed to come here? :)

"Sitting in my quarters talkin' ta you guys."

(: Details Renji. :)

"Oh, right." He thought for a minute. "Um... I was tryin' ta get ta sleep an' heard Ichigo an' Shirosaki fightin'. I said some stuff, we got inta a conversation, Zabimaru said somethin' I couldn't hear over them fightin', tried ta go ta my inner world ta hear 'im better, an' ended up face ta face with them."

(: Hmmm... Interesting. You can already come here pretty easily, as you've demonstrated several times already. Try it again. :)

"Alrigh'." He closed his eyes and when he opened them he was standing next to Ichigo. (Huh, still thin' tha's way too easy.)

"Zangetsu-san, do you think one of us should try too?"

(: Yes. It shouldn't be too difficult. Just do what you would normally do when you wish to speak with your own zanpakto. :)

Shyuuhei looked around, "Anyone want to volunteer?"

"I'll do it," said Rikichi bravely.

"Go fer it kid."

"Okay, here I go..." He focused like he usually did when he wanted to speak to his zanpakto, opened his eyes to see himself standing on the side of a building, freaked out, flattened himself into one of the windows, and screamed, "Ahhhhhh! Help me Renji !"

Chuckling, Renji looked down at the terrified kid, "S'okay Rikichi. Ya won't fall. Everythin' oriented different here." He offered a hand to help the boy stand.

Rikichi took the offered hand and stood cautiously. He hung on a few seconds longer then he really needed before letting go. "Whoa... that's scary."

"Everyone seems ta thin' their gunna fall down when they come here."

Rikichi stared at Hichigo, terrified of the Hallow he'd heard so much about.

"Wha's tha' matter kid? Cat got yer tongue?"

"Leave him alone already. He's not used to you like the rest of us are."

(So it worked?)

"Yeah Senpai, it works. Ya'll come on." He added quickly, "just don't worry about falling off the side of the building at first. It's disorienting as hell in here."

Five minutes later four more confused and slightly alarmed shinigami stood on the side of the very same building.

"Nice place ya got here Ichigo," mused Ikkaku, looking around.

"Bit plain," criticized Yumichika.

Shyuuhei, grinning, said, "Doesn't matter what it looks like, just nice to see you alive Ichigo."

"Believe me, it's great to see some familiar faces again. Was bad enough stuck with no one to talk to but Hichigo for the longest time."

Rukia, having finally overcome the shock of Renji proving himself right, ran to Ichigo, wanged him over the head with her fist then gave him a rib crushing hug.

"What was that for!" he protested as his rib's cracked.

"For getting yourself captured and nearly driving all of us insane with worry!" she said, releasing him and wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Not like I had a real choice there Rukia," he grumbled, rubbing the forming bruises. "I was kind of unconscious at the time."

: Yet again, can we focus. I know you want to spend time getting reacquainted, but we really don't have any at this point. :

: Lay off um Zangetsu. :

: As much as I would enjoy treating them like the adults they claim to be, they are far too easily distracted. We have to get to work, or else this meeting was just a waste of time and an unnecessary risk. :

: You've got a point. :

"Whoa, when'd Zabimaru get here?"

: Hello to you too Rukia. :

"So we can call our Zanpakto's here too?"

"Prolly. Dunno. You ken try, but nows prolly not tha best time."

"Yeah, let's wait until we have more time before we try bringing everyone Zanpakto's here. And for when there's fewer of us."

"Probably a good idea," agreed Shyuuhei.

"Right, so, let's get Rukia and Rikichi up to speed."

"So wait," said Rukia suddenly, half way through the explanation of how this entire mess of a rescue attempt began, "You're saying this has been going on for almost six months?"

Ichigo shrugged, "Round about. Took awhile to be able to tell Renji from Shirosaki being an idiot."

"Huh?"

"Ehhh, tha' was way back when I was still tryin' ta drive him nuts. Used ta impersonate some of his friends."

"Can you be anymore evil?" asked Shyuuhei.

"Have you met Aizen?"

: I'm getting really tired of telling you to focus. :

: Then don't. They aren't listenin' ta ya half the time 'nymore 'nyway, so why bother? :

: Fair point. :

: Feh, I say leave um ta talk. :

: Why not... They can call when they feel like working again. So, Zabimaru, tell me about the last few months. :

As the Zanpakto wondered off into their own little worlds, the loud knocking on the door of Shyuuhei's flat resounded through the still night air.

"Oi! Rangiku's here!"

"I'll go," said Shyuuhei. "Be back in a second." He shimmered and dissapeared from view.

"This ought a be interestin'," said Renji. "Hope Senpai can explain how this works without me..."

"Go and help him then," said Ichigo. "It's gunna be weird enough explaining this with the five of you sitting out there not moving and holding on to my sword belt."

"I'll go," volunteered Rikichi. "I feel like I've been kind of useless this entire time."

"Don't feel that way. You've been plenty helpful so far," said Ichigo.

"Still, I want to."

"Suit yourself," he shrugged as Rikichi dissapeared.

"Hang on a sec Rangiku!" called Shyuuhei as he dashed to the door. Opening it, "Sorry about that. Bit involved in discussing things."

"Righhhhhhhhhht," she grinned. "Why's it so quiet in there? I thought there was a party going on!"

"Oh there's a party alright," he grinned evilly. "Come on in and we'll get the good stuff out."

She walked in and he bolted the door behind her. "So what's this really about Shyuuhei?" Then she noticed everyone sitting around the small table, eye's closed and holding Ichigo's red sword belt. "Okaaaaaaay... That's new."

"Looooooooong story. Basically, you've just joined the group that's planning the little undercover op that Yamamoto's about to throw an aneurysm over."

"Had a feeling that you and Renji where a part of it. Hitsugaya-taicho came back from that meeting ranting about how there was no way that there's another group of treacherous taicho and that he'd be the first to expose them for the cowards they really are."

"Oh that's helpful... We were kinda hoping for the 10th support on this..."

"If you guys have a good enough reason, I can convince taicho to go along with it," she assured him. "Now, explain what's going on here."

Rikichi blinked and looked up, "Oh, hello Matsumoto-fukutaicho."

"We're going to have to work with you and titles..." sighed Shyuuhei, shaking his head. "You're as bad as Hanatarou was before he met Ichigo."

"Sorry, force of habit."

"So? Either of you going to tell me what's going on?"

"Best to show you. You'd never believe us if we told you..."

"Alright, show me then."

He turned and waved at the table, "Find a place to sit where you can get a hold of the belt."

She didn't say anything, but sat down next to Rikichi. "So what, I just grab it?"

"Yeah," nodded as he sat back down at the end of the table.

She reached out and grabbed onto the belt.

("So then Hichigo said...")

"What the hell ! Is that Ichigo!"

("Rangiku! You finally made it!")

"How...?"

("Can ya come up with somethin' better then juss 'How'?")

She turned to stare at Renji, "He'd said that, right?"

("Course I did, Rangiku. Yer juss hearin' me in ya head is all. Take a while ta get used ta.")

"Maybe we should go back... Shyuuhei?" Rikichi said the name nervously.

"There you go Rikichi, that's better. And I agree, this would be easier if we went back. You go ahead while I explain this to Rangiku."

"Alright," he nodded and closed his eyes.

("Welcome back Rikichi.")

("Arigato, Ichigo.")

"Okay, this is insanely weird."

Shyuuhei smiled, "Yeah, but oddly enough, you get used to it rather quickly."

"So what do I have to do to be like everyone else in this exercise?"

"Basically, close your eyes and do whatever you do when you want to have a private conversation with your zanpakto, face to face, without materializing it."

"Um...?"

"I know, makes no sense. You've come this far already, so you might as well keep going, neh?"

"Alright, but how do I know when to open my eye's again?"

"Trust me, you'll know."

"Alright..." she closed her eyes and did as she was told.

The echoing cry of "Rangiku!" was her cue to open her eyes.

She took one look around, did the predictable thing, and flattened herself into the depression of one of the windows.

Chuckling, Ichigo offered a hand to help her up, "Never fails. They all think they're going to fall."

"Where am I?" she asked, looking around.

"In my head is the simple answer."

("She make it alright?")

"Yeah Shuu. She made it alright. Come on back."

Shyuuhei appeared a moment later, "Well, everyone's finally here."

"So then, I was right. You aren't dead Ichigo."

"No. Still alive, just stuck in Las Noches for the time being. That's what this whole thing is about. Renji here," he pointed over his shoulder with a thumb, "Got the brilliant idea to put together a rescue mission under Yamamoto's nose."

"There some big risks with that," she whistled. "If we fail and Yamamoto finds out who was in charge, there's going to be some executions"

"Yeah, bu' after tha whole debacle with Rukia's execution, I thin' he's a little less inclined ta throw anyone on tha choppin' block."

"Maybe, but it'll defiantly be a career killer."

"Again, still short senior staff from Aizen's betrayal and the three failed incursion."

"Huh, when you put it like that..." she mused.

"I heard a we in there," said Rukia. "You haven't even heard the plan and you're already in?"

She grinned warmly, "Anything for Ichigo."

"I swear, I'm the one forever doomed to be the voice of reason..."

"Tha's because ya spend too much time with yer stick in tha mud brother."

Rangiku stared, "Is that...?"

"Oi! Come on people! You know I'm here fer Kami's sake! Stop staring at me like I'm a freakin' leper or somethin'!"

She blushed, "Sorry Shirosaki-san. I was surprised. Didn't mean to offend."

"Eh, don't worry 'bout it," he said. "Not yer fault I been gettin' gawked at all day."

: So, now that Rangiku is here, we should get back to business. :

"Yeah, we gotta ge' this over with tonight. Can't afford ta be doin' this too often," agreed Ikkaku, switching seamlessly from his conversation with Yumi to the main point of this highly unusual meeting.

"Well then, back ta tha beginin'," started Renji.

"So we're just going with the philosophy that 'simpler is better'?"

"You could say that," said Ichigo.

"Juss too bad tha' not matter how simple stuff sounds on paper, it's always hard once ya get started."

"Yeah, but it's all we got at the moment. And 'nyway, most a us work better with plans like tha'."

"That's true enough," nodded Shyuuhei. "Easier to hide from Yamamoto too."

: That will be the most difficult aspect of this plan. Until you get to Hueco Mundo anyway. :

"Well, barring some major scandal or someone ratting us out, it shouldn't be too difficult avoiding capture."

"We're just going to have to be extremely careful with how we tell Nii-sama and Hitsugaya-taicho about this."

"Still say we should tell Ukitake."

: I agree with Shirosaki. We should at least try and get Ukitake in on this. It will make convincing Kyouraku that much easier. :

"Not ta mention Byakuya'll listen ta him," he added with a grin to Rukia.

: Having Ukitake's support will come in very handy later as well. :

"Not so sure on that... He kinda lacks impartiality here."

"Tch... that's true. Ukitake is too close to Ichigo to really present an unbiased face. And the fact that Rukia was in his division for so long undermines him that much more."

"So we'll leave Ukitake's involvement up to a later decision?"

Nods of agreement.

"Right, so then, we've covered everything?"

"Thin' so," said Renji.

"I don't have anything more," added Shyuuhei.

"Right then, everyone's clear on what they have to do?"

More nods of agreement.

"Great. We'd better start winding down this 'party' before it gets too late."

: I would suggest leaving in small groups. A mass exodus would look extremely suspicious to anyone that is spying on you. :

"Good point Zangetsu. It would probably be best if at least one of you crashes here tonight. There's always someone who gets too smashed to make it back home after one of these."

"Well, I've usually got Yumi ta drag me home."

"Nii-sama will kill me if I don't get home tonight."

"It would probably look even more suspicious if I stayed behind," said Rikichi seriously. "It was risk enough bringing me here, seeing as I'm not normally in this circle."

"Looks like it's up to Renji or Rangiku."

"I can't miss gate duty. I've already skipped it once this week."

"Yeah, me getting smashed outta my mind and crashing at Shuu's house is totally normal," dry ice sarcasm. "Just because I enjoy my alcohol a little too much doesn't mean I can't get myself home at night."

"Well, I guess Yumi can cash his 'once-a-year-drunk-fest' card and the both of you can stay."

"I was hoping to save that for after we get Ichigo home, but if it will maintain our cover..."

"Oh right, like anyone is going to fault you for going out and getting tanked with us then."

"Fair point."

"So then Ikkaku and Yumi will stay. An' know I ken do a damn good fake-drunken stumble home, so tha's no problem. Rangiku, you up ta the challenge?"

"Oh yes, I am very good at the fake-drunken stagger."

"Um, what if Renji 'escorts' Rangiku-san home?"

Focus turns to Rikichi.

"See, this is why I love this kid. He is always coming up with amazingly simple, yet elegant ideas," fawned Yumichika.

"And it totally fit in with Renji's style, making sure his friends get home safe and sound," nodded Ichigo.

"Okay, now that that's out of the way, I guess we should break up the formal part of the meeting, drink some damn booze so we can at least get a decent attempt at our cover going, not to mention getting a real shot at falling asleep tonight."

"Oh yes, sleep is a good thin'," nodded Renji.

"Well, since I'm going to be cutting curfew close as it is, I'd better take off. It's going to be bad enough explaining this to Nii-sama in the morning... or tonight if he's still awake... and he probably is..."

"I should go too. I don't normally stay out very late."

"Don't forget to talk to Hanatarou tomorrow Rikichi."

The boy smiled, "It's just a good thing that I normally eat lunch with him. Last thing I wanted to have to do was get injured for a decent excuse to go to the 4th and talk to him."

Rukia hugged Ichigo warmly, "Seems like there's always one of us on some kind of rescue mission."

"It's what we do best," hugging her just as hard. "If you're in Karakura before I get back tell my sisters I said hi."

"You're in luck, I'm going to be out there next week."

"Ya are?" asked Renji, eyebrow raised.

"If my taicho will let me," she added smoothly.

The rounds of laughter were long in dieing away.

"Come on Rikichi," she said, "Let's go."

The boy nodded, "Coming fukutaicho." He bowed to the group at large, "Goodbye everyone," and dissapeared from view.

"See you in the morning Renji," and she too was gone.

"I'll give 'em a while 'fore I take off too."

"Probably a good idea," nodded Shyuuhei.

"Too bad we couldn't bring the sake with us. I got a hold a' some a' Iba really good stuff."

"How'd ya manage tha'? I been tryin' fer years ta get inta his stash."

"Easy when you know how," was the only answer the taicho would give.

"Is his so much better then mine?" asked Yumi, the dangerous note in his voice only audible to those that knew him.

Ikkaku blanched, "A course not Yumi! Yours is wonderful! Iba's is like cheep beer compared ta yers!"

"Funny, it didn't sound like that."

: Okay, I'm just goin' ta interrupt before Yumi blows a gasket and Bankai's on Ikkaku. We have no idea what tryin' ta release yer Shikai's would do here, not ta mention Bankai. I fer one would rather not go there. :

: It would be safe for Ichigo, obviously, since the three of us have trained with Bankai here before. I'd seriously doubt that anyone else would even be able to maintain Shikai for more then a few minutes, and it would be far to dangerous to attempt Bankai. :

"And this comin' from a zanpakto spirit is soooooo not ironic."

: Materializing us is different then releasing our powers. You should know that by now. :

: Yeah. :

"Yumi, your special blend is delicious and honestly the best home-brew out of any of ours," soothed Shyuuhei, knowing Ikkaku was to blunt to ever accomplish the needed elegance of speech to calm the rilled peacock. "Ikkaku only likes Iba's because it's better for a fast-acting but long buzz. The hangover's a killer, but sometimes it's worth it. Honestly, we all prefer yours."

Yumi relaxed, but still glared at Ikkaku. To Ikkaku's credit, he kept his mouth shut.

"Okay then... I think it's time some of us actually had something to drink before they kill each other..."


	6. Chapter 6

A loud knock at the door woke Renji from his daze. "Whaddya want?" he yawned.

Rikichi entered, "Sorry taicho, I know you said you didn't want to be disturbed, but I have a message from Matsumoto-fukutaicho for you."

"Can it wait?"

"No sir. She said it was important."

"Wha' else is new..." he groaned. "Everythin' important this close ta tha incursion."

Rikichi looked around before whispering, "Renji, it's about you-know-what."

That woke him up. "Alright," he said in the same tone as before. "Give it ta me."

Rikichi handed him the sealed note, "Hanatarou said that he'd have the squad assignments ready for the taicho's by tonight."

Renji nodded and broke the seal on the note,

We have to do it tonight. Taicho's started to suspect you and Shyuuhei.

He sighed and handed the note to Rikichi, "Good. The sooner we can see the assignments, the sooner we can finalize our plans."

Rikichi read it quickly. "I was also sent to inform you that squad leader Ryu was injured during practice against Kuchiki-fukutaicho today. He was still being examined in the 4th's hospital when I left." He handed the note back and nodded.

"How bad did he look?" He burned the note over a candle.

"He was unconscious and has a broken leg. Fukutaicho can provide better details then I at the moment."

"Very well. Return to your duties Rikichi."

He waited until Rikichi had left before returning to what he'd been doing. "Sorry 'bout that Ichigo. It's really startin' ta get busy 'round here."

(What do you expect? We've only got ten days left.)

"Yeah, and we're still trying to hash out basic little junk like who's manning supply lines and which division's are getting attachments from the 4th."

(Eish, we're better prepared then they are and we're having to do everything incognito.)

"Yeah... Rangiku just sent a pretty disturbing message"

(That can't be good.)

"Nope. Yanno how Hitsugaya is in charge of the investigation squads?"

(Yeah.)

"Well, him and his damn investigators are starting to suspect me and Senpai. We're gunna have ta move the meetin' up ta tanight."

(Huh boy... Looks like another long night for you my friend.)

"Don't remind me..." he groaned. "I don't think I've really slept in over a month."

(Let Shuu run the show for a day or two. You really need to get some sleep or else you're going to get someone killed out there.)

"I know I should, but if we're gunna be dealin' with Hitsugaya, then I gotta be there."

(Well, let Rukia deal with the division for now, and you take a real nap.)

"I can't sleep. Too rallied up ta even try."

(Don't make me drag you in here and knock you unconscious myself.)

"Oh ha-ha. Won't work an' you know it. We'd juss end up fightin' fer a few hours 'till we both dropped and then I'd be even worse off."

(True enough... You should ask Hanatarou for something to help you sleep.)

"Wouldn't do any good. He'd have ta report ta Unohana tha' a taicho's askin' fer sleepin' pills an' then Unohana'll go inta full overdrive tryin ta figure out why I can't sleep, which'll juss lead ta awkward questions an we really can't afford that at this point."

(Right... forgot about Unohana...)

"I dunno, if tanight goes over well, then I'll let Shuu run tha operation fer a couple a days an make Rukia seal me in my room with a nice, strong sleep kidou."

(At this point, that's probably the best thing you can do.)

"Yeah..." He stopped when he heard the sound of footsteps in the hall. "Someone's commin'."

(Right.)

Renji grabbed a random document from across his desk and stared at it like he was working. The door opened without so much as a knock and Rukia walked in. She closed the door behind her and locked it. "Rikichi told you right?"

"Yeah Rukia. He was juss here a few minutes ago." He set the paper down and leaned back in his chair. "How'd he figure it out?"

"It's Hitsugaya Toshiro. The boy's a genius when it comes to this kind of stuff." She sighed and sat down behind her desk, "We are in big trouble."

"Ya never know," shrugged Renji. "He's smart enough ta know when he's bein' lied ta an' when tha people he's workin with are nuts. Long as no one loses their head's tanight, we should be okay."

"I hope so," she said. "I'm really not looking forward to another execution order on my head."

"So what happened ta tha kid tha' got sent ta tha hospital."

"You know how they get. He thinks he in line for a promotion, so he wanted to show off the fact that he's 'perfected' his Shikai, beat a couple of unseated squad members, and acted like a complete jerk. So I told him that if he could beat me I'd make sure he got promoted. Beat him without even moving. He tripped over his feet and landed wrong, there was a nasty crack, his leg started swelling, so we took him over to the 4th to get it looked at."

"Rikichi said he was unconscious."

"Yeah, he was. After he saw the needle for the anesthetic they where going to give him before splinting his leg."

"How bad a break was it?"

"Nothing major, but he's going to has to sit out at least six weeks of training. Which means his squad needs a new leader until then."

Renji sighed, "Put Guro in charge for now, since he's tha only one in tha squad tha' has any semblance of leadership potential at this point. If push comes ta shove I'll put 'um under Rikichi when we ship out."

"Or we can lend them to Komomura to defend the supply lines."

"May just end up doin' tha," he nodded.

"So, you've just been sitting in her talking to Ichigo all day again, or did you manage to get any work done?"

"Both. Ichigo's tha only reason I've even been tryin'. Kept refusin' ta talk unless I worked."

"You finish it all, or just some?"

"Naw, I got through it all. Did some a yers too," he added with a sighed. "An' now 'm bored outta my mind with nothin' ta do."

"Get some sleep. I can watch everything for a few hours."

"That's wha Ichigo's been tellin' me fer tha last hour er so, but I juss can't fall asleep."

"Maybe you can't sleep because you've got Ichigo there to talk to. Try taking off the belt and going to bed."

"Actually, Ichigo suggested ya lockin' me in my room with a sleep kidou."

"Don't tempt me. If you don't get some sleep soon, I just might. Come on, give me the belt and go take a nap. I'll wake you up before dinner, and if something comes up I can always contact Shyuuhei."

"Fine, he sighed. "Talk ta ya in a few hour's Ichigo."

(Have a good nap Ren.)

Renji unclasped the belt and slid it off his waist. "Here," he handed it to her.

She smiled at him, "Go to bed. I'm gunna send Rikichi out there to make sure you're asleep," she threatened.

"Yeah, yeah..." He walked out of his office and, leaving the door open, headed off towards his room.

(He gone yet Rukia?)

"Yeah Ichigo. I just hope he actually manages to fall asleep."

(Me too. Zangetsu told me he's been staying up talking with Hichigo nearly every night for the last two weeks.)

"Is it weird that they get along so well?"

(With Hichigo acting all sane and normal...?)

"True," she nodded forgetting that he couldn't see her.

(Did he really do your work for you?)

"Looks like. There's just the stuff I brought with me left and then we're done for the day."

(Huh... guess I shouldn't have pushed him so hard.)

"Well, we we're getting a little behind, but then again, so is everyone."

(I can believe that. Between normal junk and getting ready, it's gotta be bureaucratic hell over there.)

"You have no idea. Just wait, one day you'll have to deal with all this too."

(Please don't remind me.)

There was a knock at the door before she could say anything. Switching to her 'I'm-a-fukutaicho-obey-me' voice, "What is it?"

"Sorry to disturb you Kuchiki-fukutaicho, but I need to speak to Abari-taicho."

"Abari-taicho is unavailable at the moment. What do you need?"

"I have a message from Hisagi-taicho. He asked me to personally deliver it."

"Leave it with me. I'll make sure he gets it."

"Hisagi-taicho was adamant about this message being delivered to Abari-taicho and no one else."

"Fine," she sighed and stood up. "I'll take you to Abari-taicho."

(This is why I hate days like this...)

"Got that right, Ichigo..." she thought silently. She led the messenger through the 5th division to Renji's personal quarters. "Renji, got a message from Shyuuhei and the messenger says he won't give it to anyone but you."

Renji opened the door with a growl, "What kind of message is so important that you couldn't leave it with Kuchiki-fukutaicho?"

The poor messenger squeaked, "My deepest apologies Abari-taicho, but Hisagi-taicho made me swear I wouldn't give this to anyone but you." He held out the sealed message with a shaky hand.

"Fine." He took the message from the messenger. "Leave."

The messenger bowed deeply and hi-tailed it outta there.

"What's it say?"

"Get in here," he replied looking up and down the corridor. He shut the door behind her and opened the seal:

Got Rangiku's message. Hitsugaya just came and confronted me with his suspicions. He's on his way to you ans is about three seconds from calling Yamamoto and turning us in. Get the belt outta there before he sees it! Give it to Rikichi or Rukia so they can hide it. Don't send a reply! I'm being watched! I had to tell the kid to go through five different divisions to loose Hitsugaya's buggers.

"Rukia! Go! Now!" He stuffed the note into her hand, "Anywhere but the office! Find Rikichi and hide the belt! But don't go to Senpai! Hitsugaya has him under surveillance."

"Right! Good thing Rikichi's back at the 4th, I can hand it off to him and not look suspicious."

"Fill Ichigo in on the way," he said reached to open the door. "I'll be back in the office."

"How are you going to get a message out if something happens?"

"Rikichi's good at sensing reitsu at a distance. Post him close enough ta feel mine an tell him ta wait. I'll spike it once for an 'all-clear', twice fer 'caution', three times fer 'danger'."

"Right," she darted out into the hallway and shunpo-ed off.

Renji, not wanting to look odd in anyway, ambled at his usual relaxed pace back to his office.

Renji, glaring at the piece of paper he was doodling on while waiting for Hitsugaya, didn't even look up at the knock on his door. "What is it?"

"I need to speak to you Abarai-taicho."

Renji chucked the paper into the trash and got up to open the door. "Come in Hitsugaya-taicho. How can I help you?"

Hitsugaya waited until Renji closed the door before saying, "You know why I'm here. Hisagi-taicho managed to get a message out."

"Message? From Hisagi-taicho? I have no clue wha' you're talkin about."

"Don't play dumb. I know the two of you behind the deception Yamamoto-soutaicho spoke of. The only thing I don't know is why. Hisagi would not talk, and I seriously doubt you will either. Know this, the only reason I have yet to inform Soutaicho is because I lack the evidence to convict you both. The instant I find it, you will both be headed to jail cells under heavy supervision."

"Hitsugaya, I don't know wha's made ya suspect Hisagi an I, but I ken tell ya tha' you're lookin' at the wrong two Taicho. There's nothin goin on, at least not in my division."

"Abarai, you are talented at hiding, but your skills are nothing compared to mine. I know the two of you have been holding secret meetings several times a week since the announcement of the mission to Las Noches. I also know that your Fukutaicho's are in on the plan, along with several senior staff members from yours, Hisagi's, 4th, 11th, and possibly the 6th divisions. Do not insult my intelligence by denying this fact."

"If there's been meetin's as often as you say there have been, then how ken you not know wha's they're gunna do?"

Hitsugaya's eye's narrowed. "What makes you think I don't know?"

"If ya knew, then ya would've turned in tha list a names ta Yamamoto-soutaicho."

"As I have already said, I lack the evidence to have you convicted at this point."

"Is it possible tha' you're wrong?"

"If I believed that there was any chance I was wrong, then I would not be here."

"Ya got no evidence, an' yer still completely confident tha' yer right?"

"As I already said Abarai, if I wasn't I wouldn't be here."

"Well, sorry ta disappoint ya there Hitsugaya, but I really haven't got a clue what yer talking about."

Hitsugaya glared, "Be fore-warned Abarai. I'm going to expose you and Hisagi. Even if I have to do it without enough evidence for a conviction, I'll make sure that the two of you are pulled from the mission."

"You'd really risk pullin two Taicho from a mission's who's success depends on havin as many powerful shinigami there as possible juss 'cuase ya thin they're involved 'n some vague plot ta do somethin' once we get there?"

"To prevent history from repeating itself? Yes."

"Oh please, you really thin' that Hisagi er I would turn traitor and join Aizen? Hitsugaya, I really thin' yer reachin' fer an explanation fer all this now. There's no way either a us would join tha' nut."

"Who said anything about joining him?"

Renji blinked, "Wasn't tha' what ya meant by stoppin history from repeatin' itself?"

"Actually, no. But it's curious that the first thing you think of is joining with Aizen."

"Oh fer the love a... After wha' he's done ta Ichigo and Rukia, there ain't a shinigami alive tha' wants him dead more 'n I do. You outta all everyone how I feel, after wha' he's done ta Momo. And considering how bad Tousen's betrayal messed with Shuu, he's just as ready ta see tha bastard's head on a plater as I am."

"Hmmm..." He thought about that for a moment. "While I do believe that sentiment, I'm still not convinced that you are not in fact part of this underground movement."

"Rangiku's gunna kill me fer this, but it's our only chance..." Renji sighed, "If ya want ta know wha' we've been doin' in these 'secret meetings' as you so eloquently put it, then ask Rangiku. She's been there, and she can vouch tha' there's nothin' going on."

That's got the vein throbbing, "Rangiku's been to one of these meetings." It was more a statement then a question.

"Yeah, most of 'um in fact. And they ain't secret er nothin'. It's an open door policy. Just hafta know where they're at an' when ta show up."

With his 'fear-me-I-am-Mr-Grumpy-Pants' look firmly in place, and the vein above his eyebrow bulging dangerously he said, "Well then, it seems I have more work to do. I shall take my leave." He turned and left without another word.

"Well then... tha' was fun..." He slumped onto the office couch and waited until he could no longer feel Hitsugaya's reitsu. Giving it about five more minutes, just to be safe, he pulsed his twice, giving Rikichi the signal for Rukia.

Rikichi appeared an hour later with a coded message from Rukia.

Made contact with Shyuuhei. He's managed to get the word out to Ikkaku through Yumi. Rangiku's pissed at you, but understands why you had to out her to Hitsugaya. You-know-what's with Hanatarou at the moment, figured it was safer with him then me or Rikichi. Ikkaku, Yumi, and him are going to pass it around between the three of them until you feel like it's safe to take it back. Send your update for Urahara with Rikichi. I've convinced Kiyone to send it to him for us.

He unlocked a drawer and pulled out a sealed letter. He scribbled a reply on the back of the message that Rukia had sent and handed both to Rikichi. "When you're done with tha', I want ya back here ta discuss changes in the squad arrangements."

Rikichi nodded, "Yes Taicho." He hid the letter in the folds of his shihaksho, turned, and left quickly.

Renji lay his head on the empty desk and sighed, "I really need some sleep..."

It was going to be a really long night.

Three hours later, Renji was awakened from his fitful dozing by a hell moth fluttering through his window and landing on his forehead. He blinked sleepily and listened to the message from Ikkaku,

My place. Midnight. Ukitake 'n Hitsugaya'll be there. Kiyone's workin' on Isane right now. No word on Kuchiki-taicho yet.

He yawned and the hell moth flew away. Sitting up and popping the chinks out of his neck, he looked over at the clock on his wall. He sighed at the time, it was still over five hours to midnight. Giving up on getting anything remotely close to some decent sleep, he reached for Zabimaru, stood up, and left to his secret training grounds. If you can't sleep, then you might as well train, right?


	7. Chapter 7

: Come on Renji, yer better then this. : chastised Zabimaru as Renji failed to hit his target for the third time in less then an hour. : I know yer tired, but this is juss ridiculous. :

"Shaddap," he growled. "Not in tha mood."

: Can't focus without Ichigo's voice soundin' in yer head er wha? :

"It's not that," he said, slicing a fourth target clean in half. "It's tha lack a sleep, nothin' more."

: Ya've been this tired before Renji. Worse even. I've never seen ya this outta it. :

"I'm fine. Now can ya drop it, or do I have ta slam against something...?"

: Harsh much? I'm on yer side baka. :

"Sorry," he sighed, stopping and leaning against a tree. "This is just gettin' ta be too much stress ta handle without lashin' out at someone. Gotta get it out before tanight, er else 'm gunna say er do somethin' stupid an' get us all in deep trouble."

: Try focusin' on takin' out yer anger on the tree's 'n targets, not me. :

"Yeah, yeah... 'm working on it."

: Seriously though, yer not juss angry and stressed 'bout tha shit tha' gunna go down tanight. Ya miss havin' Ichigo around all tha time. An' don't deny it. It's written all over ya mind. :

"Wasn't plannin on denyin' it. I dunno, it was nice havin' someone ta talk ta tha doesn't know wha' 'm gunna say 'fore I say it."

: I know how ya feel. I'd gotten used ta talkin' with Zangetsu all tha time again. Reminded me a when we were stationed out in Karakura with 'um before. :

"Yeah. Well, at least it's only fer a few more hours... hopefully."

: Ehhh, There's nothin' ta worry 'bout with Ukitake. He'll believe ya easily enough, since we got all tha proof any normal person could want. It's all on Hitsugaya. Tha' kids a right pain 'n tha ass sometimes. We juss gotta trust that Rangiku's ken do a good enough job explainin' the stuff ta him 'fore you and Shyuuhei take yer turns. :

"Never really worried 'bout Ukitake. He'd do juss 'bout anythin' fer Ichigo an' everyone knows it. Was actually surprised how fast we got Komomura convinced."

: Yeah, tha' was a bit surprisin'. Maybe he juss realizes this is tha' best shot we got at finally killin Aizen once an fer all. :

"Dunno, maybe. Who knows wha's goin' on in tha guy's head."

: So, you thin' Shuu's decided bout how ta tell Unohana yet? :

"Prolly just gunna leave it to Isane and Hanatarou. Doesn't matter how er when we do it, she'll never back us publicly."

: Yeah, but we really are gunna need her ta back us up afterwards. :

"Soifon's support would be nice too, but tha's never gunna happen."

: True enough. :

"Well, at least by now we've got enough support ta stop tha ol' man from trying ta execute us all. An' I doubt even he could come up with enough suitable replacements fer this many high rankin' officers."

: Yanno he wouldn't kick out all 'um. Juss you and Shuu. And prolly Rukia. :

"Yeah, but Shuu and I are pretty much irreplaceable at this point. Maybe in a few years he could, but right now there's juss no one left ta fill tha spots. An' if he even tries ta kick Rukia out, everyone'll walk out on him an he'll be left alone with nobody but first years and his ol' faithful 1st division lackeys."

: We'll see. Yanno Yamamoto's just stupid enough ta try. :

"Hey, there's always Urahara's if all else fails."

: Tha'd work... til Ichigo dies an then we're back ta being in separate dimensions again. :

"Didn't say it was fool-proof. Juss said it was an idea."

: Whatever baka. :

"If I'm a baka, then you are too."

: We're both baka's fer gettin ourselves inta this mess. :

"Yeah, but it's worth it."

: Yep, definitely worth it. :

"Feh, I'm done here. Might as well hang out at Yumi's an' wait. Might feel better after a few dozen bottle a sake."

: Don't get too drunk ya moron. Yer gunna need a clear-ish head tanight when they come. :

"Yumi's got a fresh batch 'a his hangover cure and I know Ikkaku's got some new thin' tha he swears let's ya drink all ya want an not get drunk. An considerin who he tests his junk on, it's prolly true."

: Anythin' that works on tha 11th gotta be good. :

"Got tha right..."

"Couldn't wait either?"

"Naw," he replied as he sat down in the chair across from Yumi. "Tried trainin', but couldn't concentrate long enough ta hit a damn target. Can't seem ta fall asleep anymore, no matter wha' I do. One a ya's got tha belt, so I can't talk ta Ichigo. I think 'm goin nuts here."

"Renji, you must try and calm down a bit," said Yumi as he passed a half empty bottle of sake and a clean up to him.

"I've been trying Yumi, but I can't. There's juss too much ridin' on this fer me ta."

"We're gunna have ta get ya good an' drunk tanight," said Ikkaku. "Tha's about tha only thing tha's really gunna help ya at this point."

"As disturbing as it is to admit this, Ikkaku is right."

Renji blinked, "Okay, now I know 'm goin' nuts. Ya never agree with Ikkaku, Yumi."

"It is disturbing, I know. But, it is the only way I know of barring bashing your head in that is guaranteed to get you to sleep. Just the lack of sleep alone is enough to make anyone stressed and anxious, but compounded with the strain of planning and trying to make sure that we are not discovered, I would be willing to bet that you are very near your breaking point. The easiest problem in the equation to remedy is your lack of sleep, so we might as well get you tanked and let nature take it's course."

"Only Yumi ken take somethin as simple an crude as saying 'we need ta get ya drunk off yer ass' an make it sound so high brained," sighed Ikkaku as he shook his head.

"Is there a problem with how I phrase things Ikkaku?"

"I never said there was," he countered. "I juss said tha' you ken make anythin' sound so much more refined then it really is. I was complimentin ya."

Yumi smiled, "Thank you Ikkaku.

"Good save," whispered Renji.

"I'm gettin' better. Juss gotta stop shovin' my foot 'n my mouth all tha time," he whispered back.

There was a knock at the door.

"Eish, shoulda just said sundown..." said Ikkaku as he went to let in the newest member of the party.

"Kill me now, I cannot get rid of those damn tackers Hitsugaya's got on me..." grumbled Shuu as he slumped onto the couch next to Yumi. "I swear I'm going to go insane if this keeps up."

"Got tha' right Senpai," nodded Renji. "I'm 'bout as fed up with this as you are."

"Ya guys want me want me ta juss tell Rangiku and Rukia ta get um here now an get it over with?"

"Hitsugaya won't show yet. He's too busy yelling at Rangiku at the moment. I could hear him all the way to my office."

"Oh tha's nice. Wha' if he says somethin tha' incriminates us an one a his guys goes an tells Yamamoto? How 'bout Zaraki-taicho gettin' pissed at tha noise an sendin Yachiru ta shut 'um up?"

"No one's going to go to Yamamoto. He's got his entire division under order to report to him first. An' I ran into Yachiru on my way over. Gave her a month's worth of candy to get her to go back to Zaraki and tell him to come talk to me before he tries to get Hitsugaya to stop yelling."

"Was that smart?"

"Probably not, but it was all I could come up with in the thirty second before my tail caught up to me."

"I would be worried that you led them here if not for the fact that Hitsugaya already knows exactly where we are."

"Give me a break. I had planned on taking a detour through the 13th and then backtracking to the 2nd and 3rd, but then I figured I was better off here anyway and only went through the 13th."

"Did ya see Rukia or Kiyone?"

"Naw, stopped for all of five second ta explain to Sentarou what I was doing shunpo-ing over the lake, then got the hell out of there."

"Yeah, they don't like it when ya shunpo over tha lake," nodded Renji. "Got my ass chewed out by Kaien Shiba once fer tha'. I did it on a dare back when I was an 11th seat."

"Huh... never heard tha' story from ya Renji."

"Ya never asked if I'd ever done it before."

"I can't believe you got caught."

"Well, at least it was Kaien and not Ukitake tha' caught me."

"You really think getting caught by Ukitake would have been worse?"

"No, but it woulda been more humiliating. At least with Kaien I knew he wasn't gunna report me fer it."

"True, Ukitake woulda had ta report ya."

"Yeah, an' the whole damn Sereitei woulda known by breakfast tha next mornin'."

"Well, not many are willing to risk the wraith of the 13th just for the thrill of shunpo-ing over the biggest lake for twenty miles. They are rather protective of it."

"Yeah, cause they're the only ones allowed one so big. Nobody else has tha' room fer one. I'd have ta tear out one a my trainin' ground ta have enough room fer one tha' sized."

"Well, Kyouraku was telling me that he wants one, and the 8th's defiantly got the room."

"Eh, Ukitake and Kyouraku are Yamamoto's favorites, so whadda'ya expect? The rest of us have barely got enough room fer a normal sized garden."

"Hey guys, I got a message ta pass on from Zangetsu."

"Lemmie guess, he said ta stop goofing of an get back ta work?"

"How'd ya know?"

"Cause I know Zangetsu better then anyone but Ichigo er Zabimaru by this point."

"Ichigo said ta call ya a baka."

"Ya know wha', just gimme back tha belt. Better if I have it anyway."

"Prolly," he said as he took it off and handed it to Renji. "Dunno how you ever get used ta hearin' 'um all tha time."

"I lived with the kid fer tha better part of a year, so it's no big deal ta me." He didn't wrap it around his waist like he normally would have, since he would need to get it off in a flash when the other's got there, opting instead to loop it around his arm loosely. "Tha's better."

(Got that right.)

Renji grinned, "So Ikkaku wasn't the only one gettin weirded out, neh?"

(Oh be quiet. Doesn't feel right when it's anyone but you on the other end.)

"Remind me ta be flattered when this is all over."

"Oi, don't be having one-sided conversations with us around. It's just plain odd listening to you talk to him and not knowing what he's saying."

"Sorry 'bout that."

Yumi shook his head and changed the subject back to business, "What time did Kiyone say she would send word about Isane?"

"Should be any minute now," replied Ikkaku. 'Dunno if she's commin' ta tell us er sending a hell moth."

"You think she might just come with Rukia and the rest?"

"Maybe. Juss depends on wha' Isane does."

"Might be better if she just came with Rukia. She's got enough objectivity to help us with Hitsugaya."

"Yeah, but ya know how he thinks. If yer with the 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, 11th or 13th divisions then yer biased toward us. Although why he's lumpin' tha 6th in on this is anyone's guess. Sure they like him an all, but we haven't got anyone from the 6th in on this yet, so there's no point suspecting them."

"It's because you've still got a lot of power with the 6th. They listen to you, even if you aren't their fukutaicho anymore."

"You think he's afraid tha' Kuchiki-taicho is part a this?"

"If Hitsugaya actually thinks that Kuchiki would be a part of an underground movement to rescue a substitute shinigami that's already been declared dead from the deepest part of Aizen's best guarded fortress, then the kid's completely insane and needs to be committed."

"He has a point," nodded Yumi.

"Well, we won't know until they get here and we've still got..." he glanced at the wall "...three hours to midnight. Well then, I say we get tanked right now and let them deal with it."

"I agree with Senpai. Let's just get tanked now an let tha rest of 'um deal with it fer once."

"Ya know I'm all fer tha'."

"Am I the only person here that doesn't feel like drinking far too much alcohol right before having to deal with the one person in Soul Society that wants to have us all arrested and thrown in prison?"

"Pretty much, yeah Yumi."

"Right, well then, I'll just go get a few bottles of my hangover cure. Don't start until I get back."

"Bring some a my new stuff. We're gunna need it."

"I have already spiked all your alcohol with it Ikkaku."

"We're gunna need more, trust me on this."

"Whatever you say."

"I hope the boys haven't started the party without me," said Rangiku as they rounded the final corner before they got to Yumi's place. Rounds of raucous laughter could be heard coming from up ahead.

"You know Renji and Shyuuhei. When the stress get to be too much, they get drunk. "

"Well, let's just hope that Yumi's managed to keep them from getting too far gone."

"Got that right."

"Um... Are you sure we should do this if Renji and Shyuuhei are drunk?"

"Relax Hanatarou," said Rikichi. "Renji knows better then to get tanked outta his mind with this much at stake."

"I guess..."

"Well, here we go," said Rangiku as they stood outside Yumi's door. She knocked and a few seconds later, Yumi appeared.

"Oh thank Kami you're here."

"Please don't tell me they're as hammered as they sound."

"I am afraid they are," he sighed, head shaking. He ushered them inside. "Whatever that new concoction of Ikkaku's is, they seem to be immune."

"Well that's just great. Last thing we need it Renji and Shyuuhei tanked while trying to explain to Hitsugaya why he shouldn't turn us in to Yamamoto right now."

"I've been trying to remind them of that for several hours now, but they will not listen."

Rukia walked over to Renji and wanged him over the head, "You Idiot! What the hell were you thinking, getting drunk like this!"

"Rukia!" he shouted gleefully. "We 'as juss talkin' 'bout ya!"

"'eh Rukia, wha'sha doin' 'ere?" slurred Ikkaku.

"'es'at midnigh' already...?" added Shyuuhei, sounding almost as drunk as Renji looked.

"Oh my..." said Hanatarou quietly.

"Got that right," agreed Rikichi.

Rukia slapped Renji across the face, "You'd better start sobering up right now because Hitsugaya's going to be here in less then thirty minutes!"

"Um... Rukia, I have a suggestion."

"What is it Hanatarou?"

"Um... well, a sharp temperature change helps to shock the brain back to normal."

"Dunk them in ice water?"

"Um... more or less, yes."

"Well then, someone fetch me a couple of buckets of water and lets get started." Several buckets of cold water, provided generously by Yumi, appeared a few moments later. "You guys hold them down so they can't escape." Yumi, Rangiku, and Rikichi wrestled with the drunken idiots for a few minutes before finally subduing them.

"Rukia, I know we don't have much time, but can we do this outside?"

"If you guys can drag them out," she said.

Hanatarou got the door and they dragged the protesting drunkards out into the cool night.

"Okay, I'm going to chill the water now. Wait for my signal, then dunk for all your worth."

Nods from all of them.

"Standby Hanatarou, I have a feeling somethings going to go wrong."

"Yes Rukia," he nodded.

"Ready!... One... two...three!"

They shoved the heads of the still protesting guys into the icy cold water for a moment before pulling them back out.

"T-t-tha' hell Rukia!" demanded Renji, teeth chattering from the cold water.

"Y-yeah! Not cool!"

"Tha' water's freakin' freezin'!" protested Ikkaku, face dripping wet and bits of ice sticking to his bald head.

"Your fault boys. Never should have gotten so drunk." She nodded to Hanatarou, who quickly checked to make sure there wasn't any damage from the quick ice bath.

"Well, I would be willing to bet that they are pretty sober now," said Yumi as he handed a towel to each of them.

"Let's get them dried off and back inside. We're going to be cutting this close as it is."

"Come on boys," she helped them stagger back inside. She settled Renji back into his chair and took the belt off his arm, "Ichigo? You still awake?"

(Oh thank Kami! Took ya long enough to get here Rukia. The idiots are drunker then hell and won't listen to me anymore.)

"I know. We just gave them an in ice water bath to help sober them up a bit."

(Good, maybe now we can get something done. Who's here?)

"The idiots, Rangiku, Hanatarou, and Rikichi. Ukitake and Hitsugaya haven't arrived yet."

(Well, do the best you can to get them functional before Hitsugaya gets there. He's the one we're most worried about at this point. How do you think Ukitake would react to seeing them drunk like that?)

"He'd more then likely smile a bit before getting down to business. I doubt it would phase him much."

(Good.)

"Okay, I'm going to have to hand you off to Hanatarou for a minute. Yumi needs my help getting these three back into line."

(Good luck with that.)

"Thanks," she passed it to Hanatarou, who took it with a quiet nod.

The next twenty minutes was filled with them trying everything they knew to get the boys as close to normal as possible while refraining from killing them painfully.

"Um..." said Hanatarou quietly. "Hello?"

No response.

He moved closer to Rikichi, hoping he'd be able to hear him better. "Rikichi? I think I sense Ukitake-taicho coming."

Rikichi looked at him with a look that plainly said he couldn't hear the boy whispering.

"I said, I think I sense Ukitake-taicho coming!" he called, louder this time.

Rikichi stopped struggling with Ikkaku and stretched out his senses. He blinked and started panicking, "You're right Hanatarou! I can feel him too! Rukia! Ukitake-taicho is almost here!"

Rukia nodded and slapped Renji hard enough to make him see stars and stop struggling. "Hurry guys, we don't have much time!"

Rangiku copied Rukia and slapped Shyuuhei hard enough to daze him. "Behave idiot!"

Yumi and Rikichi finished tyeing Ikkaku to a chair just as there was a knock at the door. Yumi straightened his hair and feathers before going to let the taicho in. "Welcome Ukitake-taicho," he greeted. "Please, come in and have a seat."

Ukitake took three steps inside and saw Ikkaku still struggling against the ropes binding him. "Why is Ikkaku tied to a chair?"

"He's had a bit too much to drink," answered Rukia. "The boys had the brilliant idea of emptying Yumi's alcohol stash."

"A bit unprofessional for someone that's claiming to be hosting an important meeting concerning the alleged treachery among the Gotei 13," he said as he sat down.

"Very true, taicho," agreed Yumi fervently. "Unfortunately, I lack the sufficient number of hiding place to keep these three idiots from overindulging when they are determined to do so."

"Don't call me an idiot, ya fruity peacock head," growled Ikkaku stupidly.

Everyone sober enough to recognize the danger blanched, including Ukitake-taicho.

Yumichika was already red-faced with anger. He was reaching for the sword that thankfully he didn't have with him at that moment.

"Yumi..." said Rukia smoothly and calmly. "You know he didn't mean it. Ikkaku's drunker then Renji and Shyuuhei combined."

Rangiku was already dragging Ikkaku outside in effort to help calm Yumi before he did something he would regret. Rikichi's hand was at his sword, ready to jump in the way if the angry fukutaicho attacked. Hanatarou already had his first-aide kit out and was waiting patiently.

He realized why he couldn't grip his sword and turned to the wall it was leaning against. He grabbed it quickly and before he could so much as draw, Rikichi and Rukia where there, swords out and ready to stop him. He froze at the sight of two zanpakto in his face.

"Yumi, this isn't the time to kill Ikkaku," she said, still calm and very firmly. "Please just try and wait until after we finish here before destroying him, okay?"

"Fine," he huffed and returned his sword to its sheath. Rukia and Rikichi also sheathed their swords and all sighed, relieved.

"Well that was certainly interesting," said Ukitake calmly. "Does that happen often?"

"Only when they drink too much," said Rukia, smacking a laughing Renji and glaring daggers at a smirking Shyuuhei. "Sorry about that taicho."

"Are you sure you should be holding this meeting with them drunk?"

"Normally, no, but we're running out of time and we have to get this done."

Rangiku came back inside, "Tied him to a tree a few hundred feet away. It was either that, or he was going to run around the division with a chair strapped to his back and insulting people."

"Did you gag him too?"

"Thought it was for the best. Wrote a little note above his head."

"What's it say?"

"If you release him before morning you will have your head chewed on by Yachiru."

Several of them giggled and Rukia asked the obvious question. "And what if it's Yachiru that finds him?"

"It says that she gets my share of candy for the next three months if she doesn't let him down. She can negotiate for more if she doodles on him."

"Well, he's going to have an interesting night."

"Got that right."

(Please tell me that you guys are planning on starting soon, 'cause I'm starting to fall asleep.)

Rukia didn't respond verbally, but gave Rangiku a look that plainly said, 'we have to start soon'."

"Does anyone know what's holding up Hitsugaya-taicho?" asked Yumi with a glance at the clock.

"Not a clue," shrugged Rangiku. "Last I saw of taicho, he was in the office glaring at the wall like he always does when he's just finished yelling at me. I can't think of a reason for him to be late."

"You don't think he...?"

"We wouldn't be here if he did."

"You never know. The kid's smart enough to tell him to hold off until the morning."

"True, but he's also smart enough to realize that we'd think of that and knows better then to try. Plus, he had got to be curious, and once Hitsugaya-taicho is curious, he never stops until he's got all the information he needs to understand."

"Yumi's right. He wouldn't turn us in without knowing the truth. Taicho may seem heartless and only devoted to his duty as a shinigami, but he's still a child at heart, and kids have a tendency of letting their curiosity get the better of their judgment."

If Ukitake was suspicious of this conversation, he didn't show it.

Rikichi's head turned, ""It's faint, but... Yes. I sense Hitsugaya-taicho."

"Well, at least he's only five minutes late..." grumbled Yumi as he went to wait at the door. He opened it at the first knock and silently ushered him in. "Find a seat if you can Taicho, it is a bit crowded at the moment."

"Is there a reason for Madarame to be tied to a tree?"

"Long story Taicho," smirked Rangiku. "I'll tell you in the morning."

"Is there any reason why there are so many people here. I was told that this was to be a meeting between only myself, Ukitake-taicho, Abarai, and Hisagi."

"Ahhh, well... Renji and Shyuuhei aren't in the best of shape to be in charge of this meeting, so Rukia, Yumi, and I are taking over for now."

Vein throbbing, "And why aren't they fit to conduct the meeting?"

"Well, they're mostly still drunk. That's why Shuu's smirking like an idiot and Renji can't stop giggling at random moments."

"Calm down Toushiro," said Ukitake. "There's no need to take your frustration out on them. I am fully confident in Rukia's ability to convey the purpose of this meeting."

"It's Rangiku I'm worried about..." he grumbled quietly.

"Taicho! It's the boys that are drunk, not me," she gasped, scandalized. "I was with you most of the evening and with Rukia after that. I haven't had a chance to drink any alcohol all day."

"Can we just get started?"

"Sure Taicho. Take it away Rukia."

She glared at Rangiku. "Fine. Now, Hitsugaya-taicho knows a bit more about what's going on then you do Ukitake-taicho, so I feel it would be best to explain things as they stand now. You see, this underground moment that Yamamoto-soutaicho spoke of is real."

Ukitake nodded, "I had figured as much. And from the bustle of activity I've observed around my division, I gather that you've managed to convince Kiyone and Sentarou to take part in whatever it is you are doing."

That made everyone, including Hitsugaya, blink. "You knew!" he demanded angrily.

"You aren't the only one that notices things Toushiro. Please Rukia, continue. I am curious as to what is so important that you've managed to convince senior staff from half the divisions to go behind Sensei's back."

"It's about Ichigo."

Ukitake nodded silently. Hitsugaya's vein throbbed once, but he also remained silent.

"He's still alive, and we have proof. The entire mission of the movement is to rescue him from Aizen before it's too late."

"Wait a minute. You actually believe that he's still alive?"

"Taicho, this is Kurosaki Ichigo we're talking about here," said Rangiku. "This kid's nearly indestructible."

"I was there Rangiku. I saw the blast that killed him."

"So did Renji and Shyuuhei, along with Nii-sama and about half the fukutaichos. We never found a body, remember. Only his sword belt, which Renji's been carrying around since then."

"Hang on, I don't remember hearing that we'd recovered his sword belt," said Ukitake, confused.

"Hanatarou never reported that Renji had it," she said with a glance as the quiet medic. "He never told any of us actually. I didn't find out until Renji showed me a few days after the announcement of the mission back to Las Noches."

"So what, is that part of this proof you've been speaking of?"

"Sort of, yes. There's more, but it will have to wait a few minutes. Now, there's something you both need to understand before we continue. Everything that's happening right now, this entire movement, started before the announcement. Renji's started planning this, with Shyuuhei's help, three days before anyone knew what was going to happen."

"That makes sense," said Ukitake thoughtfully. "Sensei announced the information about you just a few hours after the he announced the mission, so we knew there was no way that anyone had enough time to seriously plan anything that quickly."

"That's not true Ukitake. There was enough time for a serious plan to be started. Not finished, but definitely started," retorted Hitsugaya.

"Maybe, but there wasn't enough time for anyone spying to get back to Sensei with enough information to make the announcement that soon."

"Yeah... we still can't figure out how Yamamoto-soutaicho's been spyin' on us," said Renji, adding the first bit of useful information of the meeting.

"You sober enough to contribute now, Renji?"

"I thin' so. Tha' new stuff a Ikkaku's finally kicked in. Whadda 'bout you Shuu?"

Rubbing his head, "I dunno. Still feel kinda loopy, but I'm getting there."

"Well, that makes this easier, since you two know more about what's going on then I do."

"Tell me ya got tha belt Rukia," he said, patting his arm and waist with a confused look on his face.

"Right here," she held the coiled belt up for him to see.

"Ken I have it back now? I feel weird without it."

She tossed it to him and he sighed contently, "Tha's better."

Hitsugaya cleared his throat to get their attention back. "Is someone going to continue or are you just going to play 'pass-the-belt' all night?"

"Right, where'd we leave off at?"

"Proof or plan. Pick one."

"The plan can wait. I'm curious as to the proof you have. How about you Toshiro?"

"Proof first," he agreed.

"Right then," she nodded to Rikichi. "You guys know what to do."

"Yes fukutaicho." Hand at his sword, he backed away and assumed a defensive posture. Yumi was on the other side, also in a defensive posture. Hanatarou stood in the background, notebook and pen in hand, ready to begin writing.

"Explanation, please."

"We've tightened security a bit. If they sense anyone nearby, they're to find them and disable them. Hanatarou is taking notes to send to Urahara, who's asked for every detail we can think of about the link."

"I should have guessed that you'd have Urahara in on this. That was a smart move."

"Thank you taicho. We knew that Urahara would be invaluable in the success of the mission, and having Yuroichi's aid was a major plus."

"Tell me, what was Isshin's reaction?"

"Urahara said he was ready ta hop a portal ta Hueco Mundo ta try an get Ichigo out himself. I'd thought 'bout doin' tha same thin', but when a Hallow says it's a suicide mission, then ya know it's a stupid idea."

"What are you talking about Abarai? What's a Hallow got to do with any of this?"

"Well, Ichigo's a vizard, so he's got a Hallow inside a him don't he?"

"You've lost me," said Ukitake, trying to make sense of what Renji was saying. "How do you know what Ichigo's Hallow thought about the idea?"

"Cause he told me so himself. Several times actually."

That earned a 'are-you-insane?' stare from the confused taichos.

"Sound's nuts, I know. I thought he'd lost it when he first told me too. But he's not, and the proof is in the belt."

Hitsugaya gave them his 'I'm-losing-my-patience-hurry-up-before-I-knock-the-tar-outta-you' look.

"Is he ready Renji?"

"I dunno, he hasn't been talking. Ichigo, ya still awake?"

(Feh, King fell asleep ten minutes ago. Me and Zangetsu er gunna hafta talk fer now.)

"Can't ya wake 'em up?"

(Been tryin', but he's out and snorrin' like a chainsaw.)

"Great..." he grumbled. "Juss let Zangetsu talk fer awhile. None a 'um er gunna believe anythin' ya say."

(Whatever ya say Renji. 'ey Zangetsu, get outta yer Emo corner and get over here. Renji needs ya ta talk fer awhile!)

(: Yes Renji? :)

"Ichigo told ya about the meetin' right?"

( :Ah, is it time already? :)

"'fraid so. Ya ready?"

(: Ready enough. :)

"Well, I woulda like ta a had Ichigo, but since he's out like a light and they can't wake 'em up, yer juss gunna hafta deal with Zangetsu fer now. And if Shirosaki says anything, juss ignore 'em. He's got a tendency a popping up at random moments and sayin' junk juss ta be an idiot."

(Jerk.)

He ignored the Hallow and spread the belt on the table in front of him. Rukia and Rangiku had already settled down around it and were waiting for Renji to give the signal. "All ya have ta do is touch it, and ya can talk ta Ichigo and Zangetsu. Shirosaki is there too, but he's promised ta keep quiet fer a bit so we'd better make tha most outta tha' time."

Neither taicho moved.

"Do you really expect us to believe something that ridiculous?" said Hitsugaya, teeth clenched, eyebrow raised, and vein at the bursting point.

"I'm inclined to agree with Toshiro. This is rather hard to believe."

"Please taicho," begged Rangiku. "It's not a trick, and it really works. If you just try you'd believe us."

"Maybe we should try it," said Rukia to Renji. "Can't hurt."

"Ya sure tha's wise? Might make it worse."

"Nothin' left to lose," shrugged Shuu. "If they don't believe us after words, then they never will."

"What are you talking about now?"

"Zangetsu, what do you say?"

(: I agree with Shyuuhei. Visual proof is most likely the only thing that will convince them. :)

"Right, well then get Hichigo outta the way. Last thin' we need is 'em seein' him and tryin' ta Bankai in there."

(: Agreed. :) He was silent for a moment. (: I've sent him away for now. He doesn't want to be left out however, so I would suggest explaining why his presence is required. :)

"Will do," he said. Returning his attention to the wary taichos, "Look, i know this seems nuts, an' prolly tha only reason ya haven't taken off ta tell Yamamoto is cause ya want as much info as ya can, but juss trust me for a few minutes. This is the easiest way ta prove we're right."

Ukitake looked at Hitsugaya, who just stared back. He shrugged, "What harm could it do?"

"Drag us into their delusions," he answered.

"It's up ta ya. If ya don't wanna, we won't force ya. Nor will any a us stop ya from leavin right now. All I got ta say in our favor is this, we only got one chance ta get Ichigo outta there and the window closes the day after ta invasion is planned. If we don't do this, them he really will die."

"How do you figure? What makes you think that he'd die if you don't do this now?"

"Because tha nut-job Aizen is planning on fighting him the day after the invasion is scheduled for. Ichigo's in no shape ta win a fight like that, and Aizen's going to kill him if he looses. So we're stuck with only one chance ta get 'em out and I fer one don't want it wasted juss cause two of tha best allies we could have decided tha they didn't believe us and turned us inta the ol' man."

"Fair enough," said Ukitake as he took hold of the belt.

With a heavy sigh, Hitsugaya also took hold of the belt.

"What now?"

"Close yer eyes an' focus on Ichigo. You'll feel it when it happens. Juss don't open yer eyes 'till I say, and don't freak out when ya do."

"Why would we freak out?"

"Everyone does tha' first time, trust me," said Rukia as the other's nodded in agreement. They'd all freaked out the first time.

Ukitake closed his eyes without another word. Hitsugaya paused for a moment longer, but he too closed his eyes and focused.

Everyone else but Renji followed. He nodded at Rikichi and Yumi, who set their swords down. "Hanatarou, will ya be okay by yerself?"

"Yes Renji, I'll be fine."

"Alrigh'. See ya in a little while." His eyes closed and he was off to join the others.


	8. Chapter 8

"Everyone ready?"

"Yeah Renji. Let's get this started."

"Okay, you ken open yer eyes."

Ukitake and Hitsugaya did just that. Both yelped in surprise and grabbed for the nearest solid object they could reach. Which just happened to be one of the others.

"It's okay," said Renji calmly. "Takes a second fer yer brain to notice the change in orientation. Yer not gunna fall."

"Where are we!" demanded Hitsugaya, voice higher then normal from the fright of finding himself standing half way up the side of a building.

: Inside Ichigo's head, : said Zangetsu calmly. : Welcome to his inner world. :

"Who are you?" demanded Hitsugaya.

"You are Zangetsu, Ichigo's Zanpakto spirit, correct?"

: Yes. I am here to speak for Ichigo. :

"Where is Ichigo?"

: Asleep at the moment. I believe he wore himself out training against Shirosaki today. :

"So then, this is not some elaborate illusion?"

: No. This is real. I do not know of any way to convince you of this fact. :

"Ukitake, you can't really believe..."

He cut Hitsugaya off, "I'm not saying I believe just yet." He turned back to Zangetsu, "Renji spoke of Ichigo's Hallow. I would like to meet him."

: I would recommend against that, but if you are sure... :

"I am."

: As you wish. :

Shirosaki appeared next to Zangetsu, his usual manic grin on display. "Well, we've got a right party goin' on now don't we?"

"You are Ichigo's Hallow?"

"I got a name yanno."

"I apologize. Shirosaki correct?"

"Hichigo. As long as King ain't here there's no gettin confused. I only ever go by Shirosaki ta keep people from gettin lost."

"Right, Hichigo then. I would like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind."

"Go righ' ahead."

"After Ichigo's battle with Byakuya at Soukyoku hill, what was his retort to Byakuya's explanation as to why he did not fight the execution order on Rukia?"

"If I was in yer position, then I'd do everythin' in my power ta fight tha law. Er something close ta that, wasn't really payin' attention."

"Now I believe them," nodded Ukitake. "Only Ichigo would know that."

"Then how do you know?"

"Byakuya and I are friends, believe it or not. He told me about what happened."

"Am I the only sane person left on the planet!"

"See, this is why I told ya we shoulda done this tha first week," he grumbled to Shuu. "I knew he'd be like this if we waited."

"Taicho, what's it gunna take to make you believe us?" asked Rangiku.

"I'd like some actual physical proof to start. Just throwing a belt that may or may not be Ichigo's at me, and then showing me some kind of extremely elaborate illusion does not qualify."

"Oh fer tha love a... Do you really thin' I'm desperate enough ta fabricate somethin like this?"

"Frankly, yes."

"Taicho, who do you know that would be able to fake something like this?"

"Kurotsuchi for one, but I highly doubt he has anything to do with this. Urahara's next on that list, and you've already admitted to having his help with this."

"Urahara's as confused as ta how this thing works as we are. That's why Hanatarou's out there takin' notes. He's tryin' ta figure it out 'fore we go."

"And you believe him? Bear in mind, this is the man that essentially orchestrated the original ryoka invasion without anyone even recognizing it."

"Been awhile since anyone called it that, 'specially since they ended up savin all 'a us."

"If I may...?" asked Rikichi quietly to Renji. He nodded and Rikichi continued, "Hitsugaya-taicho, I believe that you are determined not to believe us. Please taicho, put aside whatever it is that is causing you to doubt and help us save Ichigo. We owe him so much, and it's time we repay the debt."

Hitsugaya was silent for a moment. "How many exactly are in on this plot?"

Renji blinked, "I dunno exactly, we haven't been keeping a roster. I know we're talking about most of the fukutaicho and some of the third seats. Right now the only taicho's involved are the four of us. I haven't exactly told Komomura or Kyouraku yet. We were planning on leaving Kurotsuchi out, since we already had Urahara, and if ya want ta count him, Isshin Kurosaki's pretty much shoved his way inta this."

"I'd expect as much from Isshin," nodded Ukitake. "Yuroichi's also joined?"

"Course, and she's been talking to Kukkaku Shiba about gettin' her help too."

"Well, with support like that, you barely even need us. I am curious though, we do you need my help? I was ordered to stay behind to guard the Sereitei, so I doubt that I can be of much assistance."

"Well, we were hoping you could help us talk to Kyouraku. He'll believe you without a second thought, and there's just not enough time left fer one a us ta try."

"I'd be happy to help," he agreed.

"And we where hopin' tha when all this is over, ya'd kinda help back us up against Yamamoto-soutaicho. There's gunna be hell ta pay fer this, and we're gunna need all the help from the inside we can get. Shuu and I were plannin on takin as much a tha blame as we possibly could convince him ta throw at us."

"I don't know how much credibility I'd have in this situation. It's common knowledge that Ichigo and I are on friendly terms, and many would claim that I lack objectivity."

"Yeah, an tha's tha same reason we can't count on help from most a tha fukutaichos."

"You're treading a fine line Renji. I just hope it's worth it in the end."

: We don't have a choice Ukitake-san. We have to succeed. :

"Don't even think about it Hichigo," said Shuu loudly.

Everyone turned to him and he pointed behind Hitsugaya. Hichigo was standing there with a bucket of water raised over his head. Hitsugaya turned around, saw Hichigo, jumped a hundred feet away, and screamed, "That's it! I'm turning you all in!"

Renji face palmed, "Hitsugaya, please, don't be hasty. Hichigo's a trickster by nature an' loves ta cause problems."

"Yeah! What Renji said. I couldn't help myself. Yer juss to serious Shiro-chan. Lighten up some."

Vein back and growling, "Do not call me Shiro-chan."

"Whatever ya say kid..." he tossed the bucket off towards his left and wondered off.

"I can see why he annoys Ichigo so much," said Ukitake with a smile.

"Actually, Ichigo prefers him like this. This is sane compared ta wha' he normally would be."

"This isn't annoying?"

"If ya knew Hichigo before this, ya'd understand."

"That's slightly disturbing," he said. "I guess next time I see him screaming at himself I'll know not to bother him."

"Prolly a good idea. I think Ichigo's hopin' tha he'll stay like this afterwards."

"We can only hope," sighed Rukia, since she was the only other one there with any real knowledge of what Hichigo had been like before, not counting Zangetsu.

"So, while Toushiro is ranting, why don't you fill me in on the situation as it stands?"

"Well, he is in a bit of a predicament. Sosuke really wants a fight to the death?"

: Yes. I believe that he has finally realized that Ichigo will not talk, no matter the amount of torture he uses, and that any information he had concerning future missions and current tactics is outdated and no longer of any use to him. He thinks that the only use he has for Ichigo now, aside from a method to torment and distract his friends, is as entertainment. I am doubtful that he will kill Ichigo himself, however. I am almost positive that Aizen would fight Ichigo and damage him until he is unable to continue, then turn him over to his arrancar as a plaything. Several of Aizen's more grotesque creations have taken to taunting him with their more depraved idea's as of late. :

"I won't ask for the details," he shuddered. "I can only begin to imagine the depths of depravity they can sink to."

: Quite. I have found myself having to fight the urge to be ill after some of their tales. :

"If it is bad enough to make a warrior such as yourself nauseous, then it must be horrific."

"Kami, do you have to talk about that in here? You're making me dream about it!"

"Ichigo! Ya finally woke up."

"Duh I woke up," he growled sarcastically. "Between Hitsugaya ranting at the top of his voice and you three talking about those freaks, it's a wonder I didn't wake up sooner. Geeze, all I wanted was a decent night sleep after dumb ass over there," he jerked his thumb towards the cackling Hichigo, "Nearly tore me in half with his damn claws this afternoon during our spar. I even called no Hallow powers, swords only, and the first thing he does is go full form and slash me. Course, a full power Getsuga Tenshou at Bankai is still enough to immobilize him for a while, even in full Hallow form."

"Ya know better then ta trust 'em ta fallow tha rules Ichigo."

"Don't remind me. Bad timing for a lapse in judgment." He sighed and turned to Ukitake, "Hey Ukitake. Glad to see you on board."

"I'm happy to help. I always believed that Sensei was underestimating your ability to survive."

"Yeah, he's got a nasty habit of underestimating my survival ability, but sending me into the most dangerous missions with the lowest survival rates. Sometimes I think he's holding out for me to end up dead for real one of these days. Not sure if that's good or bad actually."

"Well, there are two possibilities: He wants you as a full shinigami, which is the more probable choice; or he believes what Kurotsuchi's research on the vizards. Which would be very bad for you, and very good for Mayuri."

"If I can help it, that freaky pervert won't lay a hand on me for a loooooooooooooooooooooooong time yet," he shuddered at the thought of what Kurotsuchi would do to him in the name of 'science.'

"I thought it was Urahara that's the pervert," said Shuu, confused. "Never heard anyone call Kurotsuchi-taicho one before."

"You've never seen him when he gets a new subject to study, have you?"

"No, but I've heard the stories of his test's gone wrong. Does that count?"

"Remind me to sit you down with Urahara one day and let him tell you the horror stories about Kurotsuchi from when he was still the 12th's taicho. He'll give you nightmares for months."

"Never mind then. I have enough nightmares to deal with as it is."

"Yeah... I am not looking forward to the nightmares I'm going to have after this is all over. No amount of therapy will ever make any of this okay."

"It never does," nodded Ukitake, understanding completely. "You just have to shove it to the back of your mind and deal with it little by little whenever you can."

"That's exactly what dad told me after the first attempt at Las Noches. Stopped me the second I got home and gave me the condensed version of the academy class on dealing with war trauma."

"See, ya got it easy compared ta most substitute shinigami. Yer dad's an ex-taicho that knows everythin' there is ta know about shinigami life. I know I wouldn't a been able ta deal with tha junk I've seen an' done without havin' gotten tha training from the academy."

"No shinigami can without help. There's just too many horrible things we see and do."

"Abarai! Tell me how to get out of here!" bellowed Hitsugaya angrily.

"Calm down Toushiro," said Ichigo, digging at his ringing ears.

"Humph, so now you've brought out an illusion of Kurosaki. Well Abarai, I must comment you on your determination, but your efforts are in vain. Now tell me how to leave before I force you to."

"Heeeeeeeey... Maybe we can test Zangetsu's Bankai theory now! Come on King, make him Bankai! I wanna see what's gunna happen!"

"Go away Hichigo. We're not testing any theory at one-thirty in the morning."

"What is he blathering about?"

"Something that happened a few weeks ago. Ikkaku pissed of Yumi, Yumi was about thirty second from Bankai's on Ikkaku, and Zabimaru reminded us that we have no clue what would happen if anyone but me tried to Bankai in here. That gave Zangetsu a little puzzle to work on, and Hichigo something to annoy us all about. He keeps trying to start fights so someone will at least Shikai and prove one of the theories we have floating around."

"Can you drop the act already! I'm not going to believe that this isn't some elaborate plot by a group of brainwashed traitors to help Aizen in his demented plan to take over the universe!"

"Hey Shiro-chan, how about this. There's only what, five or six people that have ever seen my full Hallow form, right?"

"Do NOT call me Shiro-chan!"

"Whatever. Anyway, you've seen it, since Ichigo used it tha one time durin' tha second incursion, so ya know what it looks like. How 'bout I go full form an' you can tell everyone if it's right er not. How's tha sound?"

"Do you really think I'm stupid enough to fall for a trick like that?"

He turned to Ichigo, "Whadda ya say King? Yanno I ain't gunna try anythin funny, an even if I did, ya got four taichos and a bunch of fukutaichos as back-up."

"He's got a point. There's enough of us to stop him. Renji?"

"I say let 'em. We gotta do somethin' ta convince 'em, an' I can't think a anythin'. Whadda ya say Senpai?"

"Fine by me. Always kind of wondered what your Hallow form looked like Ichigo."

"I have no complaints," added Yumi.

"As much as I don't enjoy the sight of your Hallow form, I'm in too."

"I'm with Shuu. I've wanted to see this for a while now."

: It's my job to be the voice of reason apparently, but for once I agree as well. :

"Ukitake? You okay with this?"

"Would it matter if I said no?"

"Not really, but it's best to get everyone's opinion."

"Well then, it's good that I agree."

"Zabimaru's sayin yes too Ichigo."

"How come Zabimaru's get a say?" asked Rangiku, confused.

"Cause he was here from day one and him and Zangetsu planned most a this mission by themselves. So he gets a say too."

"Works for me," she said.

"So? Can I?"

"Go for it," he nodded, drawing his sword. Renji and the other's followed suit.

"Hehehe..." chuckled Hichigo as he transformed. In a matter of seconds he'd transformed into a large Hallow with a thick tail and claws like scythe blades. "Well Shiro-chan," he said, still chuckling. "What do you say now?"

The point of Hitsugaya's sword was on the ground and his jaw was laying right next to it. "It really is true... No one could have faked Kurosaki's Hallow form that precisely, not even Urahara himself..."

Hichigo transformed back, "See Rukia, I can be helpful too."

"Yeah, yeah. I guess you where right. This time," she added as she sheathed Sode no Shirayuki. "But don't let it get to your head. I still think your more of a hindrance then a help."

"Well, since he's the opposite of me, then I'll take that as a compliment."

"Yanno, if I had know tha was all it was goin' ta take, then I wouldn't a waited so long ta bring 'em here," sighed Renji, shaking his head. "We really gotta start doin' these thing's durin tha day when we're all not 'bout ta fall asleep."

"Tell me about it," yawned Ichigo, rubbing his eye's sleepily.

"Least ya can sleep Ichi. I been awake fer tha better part of a month now."

"Seriously, get Hanatarou to give you some sleeping pills. You've got to stop staying up talking with Shirosaki all night."

"I'm not letting him keep the belt at night anymore," said Rukia firmly. "He's too easily distracted with it around."

"Like hell ya are," he replied. "I ain't givin' it ta ya tanight."

"Renji, don't make me force Hanatarou to restrain you while we take it and keep it away from you for the rest of the week," warned Shyuuhei.

"It would be eight against one Renji. Bad odds, even for you."

"Just let them have it tonight. We both need a decent night's sleep at this point."

He sighed in defeat, "Fine. But I'm definitely gunna need sleepin' pills without it. I feel weird when I'm not wearing it."

"Welcome to my world. What are you going to do when I get back?"

"You'll be back so I won't need it ta talk ta ya anymore."

"True enough."

"I know this is probably a mute point by now, but didn't we agree to keep this a short meeting. It was bad enough with Hitsugaya-taicho's people following us, but Yamamoto-soutaicho's goons where tracking us as well. Would it not be in our best interests to end now and not risk further endangerment?"

: Yumichika is right. Any further delays would be extremely dangerous. Let us retire for the night, so that we can continue tomorrow when we are better able to concentrate. :

"Sounds good to me. I really want to get back to sleep already."

"Yeah, Hanatarou and Rikichi are pushing curfew at this point, so we'd better get going."

"Rikichi's fine. It's Hanatarou we have to worry about."

"True, Rikichi's with us, so he can't get 'n trouble. I ken walk Hanatarou back ta tha 4th's barracks, an if 'nyone has a problem with it they ken talk ta me 'n tha mornin. That should be enough, 'specially since Isane already knows where he is an won't turn him into Unohana."

"I guess I should go let Ikkaku down from that tree."

"Leave him up there Rangiku," said Yumi, that dangerous glint back in his eyes.

"Whatever you say Yumi," she replied quickly, not wanting to cross the still angry man.

"Poor Ikkaku... He just never knows when to shut up."

"Got that right," nodded Shuu. "Alright, since I have morning gate duty, I'll leave first. Next should probably be Hitsugaya and Ukitake, then Renji with Rikichi and Hanatarou, then the girls. That sound good?"

"You should leave with Hitsugaya and Ukitake. Would look weird if you leave before them, even with early duty."

"Right, then the three of us first, then you and the boys, then the girls."

"So you have been organizing how you leave," said Hitsugaya. "One of my investigators had brought the possibility to my attention and I had been wondering if he was right."

"Yeah, seemed like a smart idea at the time."

"It's what I would have done," he said approvingly.

"Right then, we should be off."

"How exactly do we leave?"

"It's sorta like waking up from a trance. We've been comparin it ta speakin with yer own zanpakto in it's world. Juss do whatever ya do ta end one a those sessions."

"Okay... and if that doesn't work?"

"I can pull you out from the outside. Don't worry about it, Hanatarou and Rangiku had a bit of trouble coming out the first time."

"Don't tell him that Shuu!" she said quickly.

"Sorry," he apologized. "Come on Ukitake, Hitsugaya, let's go." He dissapeared from view.

"That's disconcerting," said Hitsugaya.

"Very," agreed Ukitake.

They both concentrated and dissapeared from view in much the same way.

"They out Senpai?" asked Renji a few moments later.

("Yeah, they're here. We're taking off in a minute.")

"Right, see ya in tha mornin'."

"See ya Shyuuhei," said Ichigo and the others.

"Okay," he sighed. "So I'm gunna wait about ten minutes before leavin' with tha boys."

"I'm gunna go over the notes Hanatarou made," said Rukia. "I'll meet you out there."

"I'll go with," said Rangiku, with a wink at Renji and Ichigo.

He waited until they'd dissapeared before saying, "Ever get tha feelin' they're tryin' ta make us spend time alone?"

"Yeah, but you know Rukia and Rangiku. They'd just love it if we hooked up."

"Yumi and Senpai already think we did."

"Yeah, I get that vibe from them. Although I never though Shyuuhei to be the matchmaking type."

"Yeah, but he's good at it. He's the one tha' finally shoved Yumi and Ikkaku into a closet and made them work out tha tension between 'um."

"More like he's the one that got fed-up first..."

"True."

"I dunno, I'm not sure we could put up with that much of each other."

"Did a pretty good job a puttin up with each other before."

"Yeah, but that was because we didn't have much choice. There wasn't any room at Urahara's with the entire 6th, 10th, and 11th divisions camping out at his shop. You just got lucky I had room for you and Rukia at the time."

"And that we called ya first. You nearly got stuck with some a Komomura and Unohana's squads."

"Unohana's I can deal with, but Komomura's are too loud and normal to survive in my house. Isshin would have driven them insane."

"Yeah, but that's what makes yer dad so funny. He's completely bonkers."

"Says something about Soul Society when all the taicho are all either narcissistic bastards, overly motherly worriers, or completely bonkers."

"Oh really? All a us fit inta one of those categories? Where am I?"

"You're borderline bonkers. Anyone that can team up with me and work so well has to be."

"Hehehehe, yeah. I guess that's why yer father doesn't drive me up a wall as easily as the others."

"Helps that he like you."

"How do ya know that?"

"Told me so himself, when I told him you were gunna be crashing with us. Right after he ran around screaming about how happy he was that his favorite adoptive daughter was back home."

"Adoptive daughter? He better not let Byakuya hear him say that."

"Got that right. I can just see the look on his face if he ever heard him."

"What exactly did he say about me?"

"That is for Isshin to know and me to nurse a mental breakdown over."

"Tha' bad?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

("Renji? I know you said ten minutes, but it's later then we thought and we've got to get the boys back right now.")

"How much later we talkin'?"

("It's almost three.")

"Shit!" he swore. "I gotta get outta here. We're so dead if we get busted between here and tha 4th."

"Go on then," said Ichigo. "We can finish this tomorrow."

"Yeah," he nodded. "Get some sleep tanight, ya don't look good with bags under ya eyes."

"Neither do you baka. I'm gunna make Hanatarou slip you sleeping pills if you don't get at least 6 hours one night this week."

"Yeah... I'm not leavin' my cup layin' around now," he grinned and dissapeared.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" questioned Rukia when Renji came into the office five minutes late and looking like he'd just gone five rounds with a Menos Grande without Zabimaru.

"Maybe a little..." he slumped into his chair and blinked at his conspicuously empty desk. "The hell? Where's all tha' paper work fer taday?"

"You caught us up yesterday remember, and there wasn't much that needed a taicho's attention, so I did it all."

"How long ya been in Rukia? There's no way you've only been here for a few minutes."

She shrugged, "Woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep. So I figured I'd come in and work on the mound of paper work that I thought was sitting here. Pile was actually kinda small, only took me half an hour to finish."

"Huh... tha's weird. Wonder if it's juss slow gettin' here taday."

"Don't jinx it moron!" She knocked on her wooden desk, something she'd picked up from Ichigo years ago.

"Still don't get why ya do tha'. If ya already jinxed it, then knocking on wood isn't gunna help."

"It's worked before."

"Name one time."

"Training at Urahara's. Remember how you said that there was no way you where going to lose to Ichigo during your spar and you spent the entire time trying not to get your ass kicked all over the room?"

"Yeah, but wha' does tha' have ta do with 'nythin'?"

"You slammed your fist into that one tree and after that you started winning again."

"Oh come on Rukia. I didn't knock on wood. That was me venting frustration on the poor tree."

"Same concept. You got rid of your bad karma and some anger at the same time."

"Ya've spent waaaaaay too much time with Ichigo, ya know tha right?"

"Your one to talk. You've been walking around wearing his belt for a year, and have been talking to him non-stop for the last month. Not to mention the all night conversations with Zangetsu and Hichigo."

"Shaddup," he said. "I plan strategies with Zangetsu, an I don't stay up all night talkin with only Hichigo."

"That I can get you to admit it is sad in and of itself."

"What? I can't sleep anyway, so why not spend the time plannin'?"

"I highly doubt that's what you and Hichigo do all night."

"What? We talk, an Zangetsu's there most of tha time anyway. Ichigo usually wakes up after a couple a hours an we juss sit an' talk. It's about tha only thing tha' keepin us all sane at tha moment if ya haven't noticed."

"Hmmm, I want to sit in on one of these conversations. There's got to be some interesting stuff being discussed."

He noticed the glint in her eyes. "What is it with you guys and tryin' ta set me up with Ichigo? He's just my friend, nothin more. Yumi and Senpai got it all wrong."

"Well, the way you two act around each other, it's no wonder people talk. And the whole 'I-refuse-to-be-out-of-contact-with-him-for-more-then-a-few-hours' thing is just more fuel for the fire."

"I never said anythin like that."

"No, but you have been saying how weird it is not to have his belt with you, and you practically had a panic attack yesterday after we had to hide it away from Hitsugaya-taicho."

"Tha panic attack wasn't about tha belt. I was freakin 'bout Hitsugaya turnin' us in."

"Sure you where," she said, totally not believing him.

Renji sighed, exasperated, "It never ends..."

A knock on the door stops was promised to be an interesting argument from Rukia.

"Whatcha need Rikichi?" called Renji.

Rikichi opened the door and came in, "I've been asked to play messenger." He held up two sealed scrolls. "This one..." he out his left hand, "...is from Hisagi-taicho."

Renji took it and opened it.

Yumi and Ikkaku went at it this morning. Ikkaku's stuck at the 4th's hospital for the next three weeks. Zaraki's not happy, which is bad for Yumi, but I think I managed to convinced him not to kill Yumi until after Ikkaku's out. Already told Ichigo, and Zangetsu's in the process of modifying plans accordingly. He's asking for Zabimaru' help, so we need to get together and trade off. Ukitake's supposed to talk to Kyouraku this morning, so be looking out for a message from one of them.

"Oh that's nice... Didn't we tell him to lay off?"

"You know Yumi..." he sighed. "Once he gets started, he won't stop 'till he's finished."

"Bad news?" asked Rikichi.

"Ikkaku's stuck in the hospital fer three weeks. Yumi finally got to 'em."

"That's not good."

"Nope," agreed Renji. "Well, nothin we ken do about it now. Who's tha other one from?"

"Matsumoto-fukutaicho, and it's for Rukia." He handed her the scroll in his right hand. She opened it and read it quickly.

Taicho's gone to speak with Yamamoto-soutaicho. He's planning on giving him some intel that will throw him off our trail. Hopefully that'll get the dogs off on some wild goose chase. I heard about Ikkaku. Should have known Yumi do that if we left him out there. More proof we gotta stop the midnight meetings.

"What a change... Yesterday he wanted nothing more then to lock us all up and now he's off trying to confuse them enough to stop looking at us. That kids something else."

"Got tha right," nodded Renji.

"Taicho, I have one more message. Kiyone asked me to pass it along."

"From Ukitake? Or Isane?"

"Ukitake-taicho I believe."

"Alright, where is it?"

"She said, 'He already knew it was you and was waiting for you to talk to him. Don't worry, he's on our side.'"

Renji grinned, "Wonder how he knew before Hitsugaya."

"Probably heard something from Ikkaku when he went to trade booze."

"Prolly," he agreed. "Well, that's one less thing ta worry about. No we juss gotta work on Byakuya."

"Nii-sama shouldn't be very hard. He trusts both of us, and does like Ichigo. In his own way, anyway. He's the one that was circulating the 'make-Ichigo-Taicho-of-the-3rd' petition right before everything went to hell."

"No way..." blinked Renji, amazed. "I thought tha was Ukitake?"

"He's was the other taicho that was involved," she replied. "Huh, I thought they'd told you already."

"I knew they'd backed me for promotion, and Ukitake was a strong supporter of Senpai too, but I never thought that Byakuya was the one backing Ichigo."

"Nii-sama is good at lending support form the shadows. You'll never know he's helping you unless he wants you to know about it."

"Remind me ta thank him fer tha when this is all over." He turned back to Rikichi, "that everythin?"

"Yes taicho."

"Okay, run a message ta Shyuuhei. Tell him that 'Kyouraku's in and we're gunna try fer Kuchiki-taicho day after tammarow'."

"Yes taicho," he nodded and left quickly.

"Take a nap Renji," said Rukia, returning to their previous conversation. "I have everything covered here."

"I'm too awake now," he said. "I think I'll hunt down Zaraki and see if he feels like sparin'."

"After what Yumi did? He definitely wants someone strong to vent against."

"Well then, I'd better let Unohana know I'm goin'."

"You're insane, you know that right?"

"Only borderline," he retorted. "At least, tha' was Ichigo says."


	9. Chapter 9

"Sorry Renji. S'much as I'd love ta spar with ya, I've got a survival drill taday."

"Huh, would a thought you'd a skipped it if ya had a decent opponent."

"Normally, yeah, I would a. But Yamamoto's been ridin my ass for the last week 'cause we already skipped a drill so I could fight Ikkaku and Yumichika, so I'm stuck wastin' my time out there."

"Feh, Yamamoto's riddin all a us right now. Well, maybe next time."

"Yeah, I'll be sure ta take ya up on tha offer. Maybe when Ichigo gets back, neh?"

Renji blinked, "When Ichigo gets back?"

"Feh, idiot. Yachiru was listenin on yer little meetin at Ikkaku's last night. She could hear ya yellin all the way ta that tree Rangiku tied him too."

"Geeze, no point tryin ta keep secrets. Seems like everyone's figured out on their own."

"Yeah well, just be glad Yamamoto's not on ta ya yet. Yer lucky that the kid's on yer side now, yeah."

"Yeah, he's trying ta get soutaicho's dogs of me an Senpai at the moment."

"Good luck, eh. Just make sure ya leave some good strong one fer me when we get out there an I'll be happy."

"Was plannin on it Zaraki-taicho."

"Good, yeah." Yachiru's pink head appeared on his shoulder and he said, "Yachiru, where ya been, eh?"

"Went ta see White-chan to get my candy Ken-chan!" she called happily, showing him the overly-full bag. "He even gave me chibi-chan's and blonde-chan's candy!"

"That's good, yeah," he nodded.

She smiled at Renji, "Spikey-chan, can I have yours too?"

"Sure thin' Yachiru. I'll pick up mine at lunch and send it ta you when ya get back, 'kay?"

"Yay! Spikey-chan is the best!"

"Gotta get goin now Renji. Tell Ichigo he still owes me a spar when he gets outta the hospital."

"Sure thin'," he nodded as the two of them wondered off toward their division's office.

Renji headed the other way, towards Byakuya and the 6th. "Might as well get this over with."

He didn't even make it through the 10th division before he was stopped.

"Renji, what are you doing over here?"

"Eh... oh, hey Rangiku. Nothing really, just finished talkin' ta Zaraki."

She inspected him closely, "Hmmmm... I don't see any rips or gashes... I guess he didn't try and make you spar with him."

"Naw, Yamamoto's sent 'em off on a survival drill he should a done two weeks ago, so there wasn't time."

"Probably a good thing right now. One of Komomura's squads came back pretty banged up after fighting one of those damn energy-suckers that've been popping up lately."

"Oh tha's great. Last thing we need is energy-suckers taking out entire squads."

"Tell me about it. We're going to have to lend him a squad to cover, since we're the only ones that aren't short people at the moment."

"What about Ukitake? Can't he lend 'em any?"

"You haven't been in the office at all this morning, have you? Yamamoto's ordered Ukitake and Soifon to send squad attachments with everyone's that's under strength. So basically, everyone."

"Fer tha love a... if he's gunna do that, then why not just deploy tha divisions? Kami knows we can use the help."

She shrugged, "Hell if I know."

"Well anyway, I need ta get over to the 6th and talk ta Byakuya."

Rangiku gave him a suspicious look, "About?"

"Yanno," he said, not changing his tone of voice. "Lettin his squads join mine fer team drills this week. We haven't exactly been working together all that much since I got promoted, an we're gunna be sent out with them, so we need ta get all the kinks worked back out."

"Ahh," she nodded. "Good idea. Might suggest to taicho that we do that with Komomura."

"Well, we already know you guys work well with us, so no problems there. Dunno whats gunna happen with Senpai and Yumi. It's Yumi's first time out as a fukutaicho."

"He'll do fine. Kinda wish he woulda waited until afterwards to try and kill Ikkaku, but you know them."

"Yeah," he nodded. "Well, I'd better be off. The sooner I can get this stuff with Byakuya settled, the sooner I can get to lunch."

"Oh, if you see Rikichi, tell him that Raito has his book and's looking for him so he can give it back."

"Will do Rangiku," he waved and resumed his walk to the 6th, although now he's going to need to detour back to his division to get his belt back from Rikichi.

"No spar from Zaraki?" asked Rukia as he stuck his head in the office, looking for Rikichi.

"Naw, he was just gettin ready ta head out for drills. Ya seen Rikichi 'round here this mornin?"

"He's off training with Hanatarou this morning, remember?"

"Oh, right, forgot about tha." He yawned, "Yamamoto sent any new orders yet?"

"How did you know?"

"Ran into Rangiku on my way back. She told me about it."

Rukia handed him the orders anyway, "Well, at least see who we're getting assigned."

Renji glanced over it, "Oh this'll be fun. Sentarou's squad is our attachment?"

"Be glad Kiyone won't be there. You've seen how they are."

"Tell me 'bout it. I'd prolly murder them before we got to through tha gate." He glanced at the clock. "Need ta head over an talk ta Byakuya real fast. Be back after lunch."

"Talk to Nii-sama about what Renji?"

"Yanno, 'bout team drills with his squads. Get the kinks out before we ship out an all tha jazz."

"Right, good idea. Better be off then," she nodded, having got the message.

"Oh, before I forget, I need someone ta return a book ta Senpai fer me. It's in the bottom drawer."

She looked at him, not getting what he was trying to say.

He mouthed 'Urahara' before saying, "Come on Rukia, the one I was tellin ya about last week? The one tha Shyuuhei lent me?"

"Ohhhhhhhhh," she said, nodded. "That book. Right, I'll send it over to him later."

"Thanks," he said and closed the office door.

Byakuya Kuchiki didn't even look up at the knock to his door. "What is so important that you must disturb me?" he asked in a monotone, but still obviously annoyed.

"Sorry to interrupt Taicho...," apologized the terrified fourth-seat, "... but Abarai-taicho is here and asking for an audience with you."

Still not looking up, "Send him in."

The door opened thirty seconds later, "Sorry ta disturb ya Kuchiki-taicho, but I need ta speak ta ya."

"Obviously, or you would not be here Abarai," he replied, still yet to look up.

"I was wonderin if ya had any new information concernin tha 'incident' that Yamamoto-soutaicho's been worryin over."

"What makes you think I have any information of the sort, Abarai?"

Renji glanced around, slightly nervous. "Matsumoto-fukutaicho said tha you'd given Hitsugaya-taicho some new information, an I was wonderin if ya might divulge what it was."

"Abarai, if Hitsugaya would not tell you, then what makes you believe that I would?"

"Had ta ask," he shrugged.

"Was that all?"

"No, but it did hafta do with why I'm really here."

Byakuya finally stopped writing and looked up. "How so?"

Renji, now visibly nervous, replied, "I wanted to know what yer position on the whole thing is."

"And why would you want to know that?"

"Curiosity mostly," he lied.

"You do know that I've spoken with Ukitake-taicho, do you not?"

"Oh? An' what did you think 'bout what he said?"

"I have no feeling's either way," came the reply. "However, I would have appreciated it if Rukia would have come to me sooner. I do not like being kept in the dark about incidents that concern my sister."

"Sorry 'bout that taicho," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Ya do understand why no one told ya, right?"

"Of course. Just know, I will take no official part in any of this."

"I understand taicho. Thank you fer not sayin' anything ta anyone."

"What would I have to say to anyone, when nothing has happened?"

"Right then," he nodded. "I would also like to extend an invitation for some of your squads to join mine for training sessions this week. I'd like fer them ta familiarize themselves so tha we can get through tha commin mission as smoothly as possible."

Byakuya thought the proposal over for a minute. "Yes, I do believe that would be a wise investment of time. Have one of your men bring a tentative schedule over before the end of the day."

"Sure thing taicho," he nodded. "I'll juss leave ya ta yer work."

"Abarai," said Byakuya as Renji turned to leave.

"Yes Kuchiki-taicho?"

"Do not fail on your mission. I will be... displeased if you do. I cannot stand seeing Rukia hurt again."

"I refuse ta fail this time," he said, grinning.

"Good," came the simple reply as Byakuya returned to his work.

"Taicho!"

Renji stopped and waited for Rikichi to catch up with him. "What's up Rikichi?"

"Rukia-fukutaicho's looking for you. A hell moth's waiting for you back at the office."

"Oh, thanks fer tellin me," he said, relieved that it wasn't something more serious.

"You're welcome taicho," replied the boy. "She also asked me to give you this," he handed Renji a wrapped package.

Renji could feel the links of the sword belt through the wrappings. "Oh, right, it's the get well present for Ikkaku. Forgot I was supposed ta take it ta 'em. S'gunna hafta wait if I got a messege waitin..."

"Would you like me to take it?"

"Naw, I'll do it," he said. "Have the squads finished with morning workouts yet?"

"All but two sir. I gave them extra calisthenics because they were goofing off during kidou practice."

"Killing two birds with one stone there Rikichi?"

"Taicho?"

"Well, you normally train with Hanatarou on Wednesday morning's."

"Oh, right. Well sir, that's true, but fourth-seat Ronmaru was ill this morning, so I took over for him."

"Another one is ill? How come no ones told me before now?"

Rikichi blinked, "I informed fukutaicho this morning sir. I have no idea why she didn't tell you."

Renji sighed, "Doesn't matter now. What's he sick with?"

"Food poisoning sir. Nothing serious taicho. Hanatarou said that he would be fine by the morning."

"How'd tha kid get food poisoning?"

"I don't know taicho. I think he was groaning something about never eating anything that Iba-fukutaicho made ever again."

"That's right, he was over at tha thing tha 7th was throwin' fer his sister's promotion. He's gunna need more then a day ta get over Iba cookin'. Tell 'em not ta report in 'till Friday."

"Yes taicho," nodded Rikichi.

"Ya headin ta lunch yet?"

"Not yet. I have some more delieveries to make first."

"Well then, don't let me keep ya here. Go on an' finish up, then ya can have the rest a tha day off. Nothin really goin on, an' ya've been workin' way too hard fer ya own good tha last two weeks er so."

Rikichi smiled birghtly, "Thanks Taicho!"

Renji grinned, "Get goin before I change my mind." Richiki nodded and shunpo-ed off quickly, which made Renji stop and stare, "When'd he get so fast?"

"Richiki found you?" asked Rukia as he entered the office and sat down.

"Course he did. I was already headin' in as it was, so ya didn't hafta send 'em after me."

"He wanted to go. Plus, it was on the way for him."

"Yeah, well, I gave him the rest of the day off, so it was good ya did."

"I was hoping you'd do that actually," she grinned conspiritorially.

"When'd his shunpo get so bloody fast?"

"What's his shunpo got to do with anything?"

"I dunno, I told him ta hurry up an finish so he could enjoy his half day, an he shunpo-ed off so fast I didn't even see 'em leave 'till I realized he was gone."

"Really? I never knew his speed had improved that much."

"Neither did I. I think it's time we put everyone through their paces fer real. Some a these younger guys are really holdin back on us."

"It's about time for promotions anyway, so might as well wait until then."

"Yeah, no point doin' it now." He changed the subject, "Rikichi said I had a hell moth waitin'?"

"Oh, right." She opened a drawer and let to poor thing out. "He wouldn't stop bugging me so I locked him in there."

"That was evil of ya," he said as the annoyed moth landed on his out stretched finger.

! You and Rukia need to start visiting more often! Karin and Yuzu keep asking when they're gunna get to see their favorite siblings again.

Anyway, Kisuke's locked himself up in lab so I'm sending this for him. He's finished the dohicky that'll drop us off in Hueco Mundo near you guys. Said its accurate to about half a mile, but that's still a fair bit of ground to cover when the time comes. He's finished making more of those anti-hypnosis thingymabobers to counter-act Soskue's shikai, but he said they're still pretty much useless against his bankai.

Ouch! Watch those claws Yuroichi!

Sorry, she's tryng to get me to say hi from everyone here.

Happy now Yuroichi?

Oh, speak of the devil, there's Kisuke. You done yet? No? Well damn, I guess that's one less bit of good news for them.

What's that? You've got a new what?

Right then... He's just finished one of the whatever the hell thingys he was working on. Supposed to act something like a sheild generator that repels lower-grade Hallows, so It's gotta be a good thing.

Well, that's about it on this end. Still waiting for your next report, so it's gotten a bit boring around here. If you guys can make it, we'd love to see you, but everyone understands if you can't.

Renji, who'd been grinning from the start of the messege, turned to Rukia, "Oh man, 's too bad ya couldn't hear tha thing. Ichigo's ol' man is hilarious."

"You're kidding. They let Kurosaki-san send it?"

"Yeah, an Yuroichi was clawing 'em tha entire time."

"Why?"

"Wanted him ta tell everyone 'hi' from her."

"That's Yuroichi for you. Anything else?"

"Yeah, Urahara's finished tha anti-hypnosis thingymabobers an' tha locater dohicky. He was working on somethin else when Isshin sent it. He said it's something like a shield tha' repels lower-grade Hallows."

"Which will come in handy when the buggers start attacking like crazy before the Menos and Arrancar get there."

"Yeah," nodded Renji. "Also wants ta know if we can get out there an visit sometime this week."

"Doubtful. Yamamoto's not about to let anyone have any vacation time right now."

"Well, not all the way out there, no, but we're about due fer a rotation in Karakura, so maybe I ken work it out ta send ya with a squad an ya can drop by an visit them."

"I don't think that would be a good idea," said Rukia. "We can't risk getting caught doing something like that right now."

"Too bad, tha girls wanna see ya pretty bad."

"You and I are taking a month off after this is all done and we're going to spend it with Ichigo and his family."

"Amen ta that," he nodded. "What d'ya want fer lunch?"

"Just bring something back for me."

"Ya sure? Not like we got anythin left ta do fer the day, so there's no reason fer ya ta stay here."

"I know, but I feel like at least on of us needs to be here at all times at this point. Too close to zero-hour to think that nothing's going to happen."

"If ya say so. Anythin' in particular ya want?"

"Not really."

"Alright, I'll juss bring ya back some fish then."

"That works for me," she nodded.


	10. Chapter 10

"Are we ready for this...?" said Rikichi quietly as he stood with Renji and Rukia, facing their entire division.

"No one's ever ready for battles like this," said Rukia, just as quietly. "You just have to hope you're able to make it though to the end."

"Don't worry," soothed Renji. "Everyone's worked hard, and we're the best prepared division here."

"Is giving everyone a two day break right now a good idea?"

"Yeah," said Renji. "We all need the break, and Yamamoto-soutaicho's already agreed. Didn't cha know? All the division's have gotten a two day break sometime in the last few weeks. We juss happened ta be the last ones ta get it."

"Oh."

"It's time Renji. Everyone's here."

"Right," He took a step forward and the entire assembled division plunged into silence. "Now I know some of ya have heard about tha' vacation days tha' the other division's have been gettin. Well, it's finally our turn. Starting at the end a taday, the entire division is on holiday. Use yer time wisely, and don't go gettin yourselves in trouble. We still got a big battle commin up, and I need everyone at their best."

Resounding cheers of joy at the announcement of a holiday reverberated through the halls of the division.

Renji held up a hand to ask for silence. Once the throngs of elated shinigami quieted he continued, "All duty and drills for the remainder of tha day are canceled. Instead, we're gunna have an impromptu trainin' session. I want ta see what ya guys ken really do, not juss what ya show Rikichi an tha rest a the officers everyday. Got it?"

Nods of agreement and calls of "Yes Taicho!"

"Right then, I want you all to listen to Rukia and Rikichi as they get ya set up. Tha less ya goof off and screw around, the sooner we ken get outta here and the more time of ya get..."

(Two whole days off...) mused Ichigo that night after Renji'd finished working his division. (What are you planning on doing?)

"Whadda ya think?" he replied as he setting into his favorite chair in his living room. "Sleep and talk ta ya."

(You're actually going to sleep?)

"Yeah, went an had a little talk with Unohana this mornin' and explained why I needed help sleepin and why she shouldn't tell Yamamoto."

(Ahhhh, made Hanatarou smuggle 'um to you.)

"Shaddap. He offered."

(You're as bad as Keigo is.)

"I'm nothing like Keigo," grumbled Renji as he retreated to Ichigo's inner world so he could have a proper conversation with the boy for the first time in a couple of weeks.

"I know, but it was the first thing that popped into my head."

"Idiot."

"Not talking to you Hichigo."

"Aww come on King. I'm bored enough as it is. At least let me call ya names an junk."

"Hey, I just wiped the floor with you earlier today, so you don't get to ask for anything."

"Yer both still sparin at tha' high a level?"

"Might as well. At least in here I still can. It's gunna take Unohana forever to fix all the crap that Aizen's done to me."

"You know Unohana-taicho. She'll have ya good as new in a few weeks."

"Hope so," he said. "My shoulders and neck are really screwed up though, no thanks to dipshit over there continuously re-tearing the muscles every few weeks."

"Bite me teme. Next time I'll let you take the torture."

"There's the Hichigo I remember," said Renji with an odd grin on his face.

"No, the Hichigo you remember would have thrown something at you."

Large rock just missed clipping Ichigo's ear, "Like that?"

"Would you do the honor's Renji?"

"I'd love ta Ichigo." He drew Zabimaru and charged Hichigo, who just jumped over him, cackling like a maniac and landed almost exactly where Renji had been standing a second ago.

Ichigo had already drawn Zangetsu and was swinging it in a graceful arc at the Hallow's torso. Hichigo once again leaped out of the way and drew his own Zangetsu. "We haven't done this in forever!" he called gleefully.

"Yeah, an' I haven't done this at all before," called Renji as he dropped into a familiar stance and ran a hand across the face of Zabimaru. "Roar Zabimaru!"

Ichigo and Shirosaki both froze as Renji's blade extended into it's Shikai form.

Everyone was still for a full minute, waiting to see what would happen.

"Huh...guess yer Shikai's do work in here."

"That was kind of stupid Renji."

"Worked, didn't it?"

"Apparently. So, we gunna stand here or we gunna fight?"

Ichigo shrugged, "Ready Ren?"

Renji's response was to shunpo close to Hichigo to try and slice him in half. Hichigo dodged, but lost half a sleeve to the insanely sharp blade. He was just fast enough to leap over Zangetsu's slash, and keep both his feet. He shunpo-ed about twenty feet away and grabbed hold of the cloth wrapping on his Zangetsu's hilt, using it to spin the blade like a weighted rope. "Two Shikai's against one ain't fair boys!" he whined as he threw Zangetsu like a spear at Renji.

He had to leap to another building as Ichigo sent as rather powerful Getsuga Tenshou his way. "I never called no Hallow powers idiot! Just remember, you go full Hallow, and we're both gunna Bankai!"

"Sure, if Shikai works, then Bankai will too. Juss love yer logic Ichigo," chuckled Renji as the grin on Shirosaki's face grew and he threw Zangetsu straight at Renji, who managed to doge just fast enough to avoid anything more major then a shallow laceration to his arm.

"Shut up and get ready ta Bankai," he called back.

They both watched as Shirosaki distorted and grow into his true Hallow form, laughing like crazy the entire time. With a glance at each other, they both roared, "Bankai!"

Ichigo seemed to shimmer as his coat changed to match that of Zangetsu's and his blade changed to that of a jet-black katana with four equally black chain links dangling from the end of the hilt. "Tensa Zangetsu," he said calmly.

Renji was hidden behind an enormous cloud of dust as Zabimaru grew into a giant bone snake with a skeletal head, and Renji's shihaksho was partially hidden under a dense fur coat. "Hihiou Zabimaru."

"Let's get this party started!"

Ichigo leaped onto the head of Zabimaru and Renji sent him flying towards Shirosaki at a near blinding speed. Just before they would have collided, Renji jerked on the hilt of the sword and the head of the giant snake sharply changed direction. Ichigo used the direction change as a distraction and sent a full power Getsuga Tenshou at Shirosaki from above. Said Hallow deflected the attack with both clawed hands, earning a nastily painful burn and probably broken wrists. "Gotta do better then that King!" he roared as he launched a Cero blast towards Renji, trying to distract him before they could line up for another attack.

Renji rolled to avoid the blast, separating the sections of Zabimaru to avoid any major damage. He whipped the blade back around and used it to surround the Hallow in a cage of undulating skeletal sections. Hichigo still stood there, grinning his insane grin, waiting to feel the telltale presence of another Getsuga Tenshou. What he got however, was Ichigo landing on his shoulder and driving Zangetsu deep between the tendons and bones of his left arm. Howling in pain and annoyance, he fired several rapid fire Cero blasts in all directions, more as a way to vent the frustration of being caught that easily then from hope of hitting either of them.

"Gotta do better then that Hichigo!" mimicked Ichigo, trying to keep Shirosaki annoyed and unfocused. He was already back on the head of Zabimaru, hiding in the dense fur that adorned it. Renji had circled around behind Shirosaki and was waiting for the signal to start the attack. Ichigo released a half-power Getsuga Tenshou towards Shirosaki and started running down the spine of the giant snake he rode. Renji, seeing the signal, maneuvered Zabimaru so that he was repeating the earlier scenario. Shirosaki fell for the bluff and focused his attention upwards, not down. Ichigo run under him and slashed deeply at his legs, nearly severing one.

"Damn it!" howled Hichigo as he leaped as best he could away from the slashing blade of his opponent. He knew he couldn't leap high enough to clear Zabimaru with an injured leg, so he used a Cero blast to throw him up and clear of the enormous Bankai. He landed heavily a hundred yards away, already firing more Cero blasts at them.

Renji, using several dislodged sections of Zabimaru as a shield, called out, "Hurry Ichigo! I can't keep doing tha' forever!"

"I'm hurrying!" he called back, already shunpo-ing back into position. He fired off several Getsuga Tenshou's to counter-act the Cero blasts coming at them.

"We've almost got him! Juss a little more!"

"You wish, little shinigami!" yelled Shirosaki as he limped quickly out of the range of Ichigo's blasts.

"Can't run forever on that leg Shirosaki!"

"Don't need ta run King! Just gotta get ready!"

"Ready fer what?" asked Renji as Ichigo shunpo-ed to stand next to him.

"Get down!" he yelled and pulled the confused taicho to the ground, just in time to duck under an insanely huge and powerful blast of Cero. The blast clear just high enough to do no more damage then singeing some hairs and burning a trail across the back of their shihaksho.

"'The fuck was that!" called Renji as he looked up at the shattered section of his Bankai.

"Full power Cero blast. More then enough to kill a taicho-ranked shinigami."

"If ya ken do that, then why tha' hell are ya still here?"

"Cause we can only use it once. It uses so much energy that we're helpless for a while afterworlds." He got up quickly and was already running to attack Shirosaki. Renji resealed his Bankai and ran after Ichigo. Together they surrounded the helpless Hallow and Ichigo yelled, "Give it up Shirosaki! We win this round!"

Shirosaki growled and returned to his normal form. "Yeah, yeah... Figured that out already."

"That was stupid," said Ichigo as he sealed Zangetsu and his shihaksho returned to normal. "You know that attack is to risky to use to win a fight."

Renji, with a nod to Zabimaru, "Thanks fer tha'. You ken take a break now Zabimaru." Zabimaru returned to his fully sealed state and Renji sheathed him. "Yanno Shirosaki, I'd love ta see tha look on Zaraki's face if he ever saw tha' attack."

"What, the look of utter glee at an attack that's more then strong enough to actually kill him? Me too now that I think about it."

: Okay boys, have you had your fun for the day? :

"Hey, it was a training exercise. You can't fault me for having fun while training."

: I wasn't. I was going to ask you to keep it down, as I'm trying to work. :

"Yeah, yeah. We'll keep it down Zangetsu. Keep your coat on."

"Ya've been spending too much time with Zabimaru," sighed Renji as Zangetsu glared at the boy and dissapeared back into his corner.

"Don't remind me," he said, blinking in amazement at what he'd just done. "I can't believe I just said that."

"Nothin' ya can do now King." He rubbed his injured shoulder, "Well, now I got a taste a what ya been complainin about fer the last few months."

"That's nothing compared to the crap you've done to me."

"Oh stop before ya start drawin swords again. Zabimaru doesn't wanna another round just yet."

"You do know that wasn't even a very hard fight, right? Normally it takes a lot more then that to defeat him."

"King's, got a point there Renji. Normally I don't go down so quick."

"I know it, but no one ken stop me and Ichi when we team up."

"Ya'd think the one that's always watchin ya guys fight could, but then again, what do I know. I'm just a Hallow."

"It's your temper man. You get annoyed and lose focus before I do."

"Yeah, but nine times outta ten I'm so strong by comparison that it don't matter. Plus, Hallow's all have short tempers."

"Like we didn't already know about that..."

"Again, bite me."

"No... I'd much rather not."

"Oh fer tha love a..." Renji turned around, forgetting for a minute he wouldn't see anything different behind him.

"Someone on your end?"

"Sounded like it... Be right back." Opening his eyes and glaring at the door like it had committed some unforgivable sin against him he snapped, "What!"

Terrified squeak. "Um... Renji? Can I... can I talk to you?"

Sighing deeply he stood up and opened the door, "Sorry Hanatarou. Didn't mean ta snap at ya. Come on in." He shut the door behind the boy, "What'cha need ta talk about?"

"Um... well... it's Rikichi..."

"Rikichi, eh? What 'bout Rikichi?"

"I'm worried about him... I think there's something wrong with him."

That made Renji blink, "Wrong how? Like, holy shit someone's gotten to him, or he's acting off and you can't figure out why?"

"The second one. He's been really quiet around his friends all week, and won't tell us what's wrong. I caught him sneaking around after curfew a few nights ago when I was finishing cleaning duties, and he wouldn't even look at me while he was stuttering out an explanation. I've never even heard him stutter, so it made me suspicious. Then he missed a training session we'd set up for yesterday, and refuses to tell me where he was. Has he been really busy lately?"

"Well, we've all been pretty busy, but no more so then usual. That's weird though... he never said anythin' 'bout havin ta miss a training session. He knows I'd let 'em go early fer one a those unless there was some emergency happenin at tha time. I dunno, I haven't noticed anything really different about him, an' we haven't been meetin at night so he shouldn't be breakin curfew. Hmmm... I'm glad ya told me 'bout this Hanatarou. You've got another trainin session tonight, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, if he doesn't show up, er he's acting weird still, come tell me, and I'll talk to him."

Hanatarou smiled weakly, "Thank you Renji. I was worried that you wouldn't believe me."

"Hanatarou, if there's anything I've learned during the years we've been friends, it's that when you notice somethin off, then there's almost always somethin' wrong. Ya've got tha uncanny ability ta see thing's tha no one else does, an tha's what makes ya such a good medic. It's also what makes ya a good friend."

The little medic was practically glowing at the high praise from his friend. Smiling, "I'd better get going. Can't be late."

"Of ya go then," said Renji as he let him out and shut the door behind him. Renji sighed deeply and slumped back into his chair. "Ugh... always something ta ruin my good mood."

(Come on Renji, I'm sure it's nothing. Maybe he's just getting side tracked or something.)

"Well, unless he can come up with a good reason fer why he's breaking curfew, I'm gunna hafta write him up."

"Can't you give the kid a break?" asked Ichigo as Renji reappeared in front of him.

"Prolly, but that's only if Hanatarou's the only one that saw him."

"Have you actually noticed anything different about him lately?"

"Not really. He's bit a bit more nervous then normal, but tha's not all that unusual right before a big battle. He'll, I was tha same way back when I was Zaraki's 6th seat."

"Hmmmm... can you think of any reasons to not show for his training with Hanatarou?"

"No, an that's wha's buggin' me tha most. Richiki's not tha type ta forget 'bout stuff like tha', an' he definitely wouldn't with Hanatarou. Those two are like brothers."

"I dunno what to tell you. You're just going to have to hope he doesn't ditch him again so you can get back to worrying about the more important stuff."

"Feh, I stopped worrying about anything a week ago. We've done everythin we can ta prepare, so there's no point in gettin' an ulcer over everythin else tha's going on."

"True enough."

"'m bored already... can we spar again?"

"Ya never quit, do ya?"

"Not really, no."

"See why I wish he was gone so much?"

"Yeah, but I pretty much got why you'd want him gone since I figured out ya had a Hallow inside."

"So, speaking of people I wish I could get rid of, heard from my dad yet?"

"No, but I'm expecting Urahara's message tomorrow, so I'll prolly have a message for ya from him then."

"Still can't believe they let him send the last three..."

"Feh, I'm glad he did, needed tha laugh. Yanno he's started doin tha same syllable elongation thin ta my name as he does ta yers."

"You're kidding. Well, it's official, you've become part of the family."

"Why doesn't he do tha' with Rukia then?"

"Only does it for his 'sons'," said Ichigo, shaking his head at his father's antics. "He's normal with girls."

"That's sad when ya stop an think about it."

"Tell me about it."

"I like yer dad. He's funny."

"He's nuts!"

"And? Birds of a feather I say."

"Kami, you're weirder like this then when you were normal."

"In a weirdly abstract way, yeah, I am. But then tha' means tha' I'm weirder when 'm actin like a normal person then when I act like a bat-shit insane Hallow."

"Is it sad that I agree with that statement?"

"Not really. I kinda hafta agree with 'em too," said Renji, disconcerted.

"Well, aren't we just the oddest trio on the planet."

"We're the only trio on the plant aibou."

"You know what I meant!"

Hichigo snickered obnoxiously.

"Kill me now..."

"Tha' would defeat the entire purpose of tha last month."

"I know... but I really need a break from all his annoying crap."

"Just wait. This time next week you'll be sleepin' in a bed over in tha 4th with Unohana pumpin tha good stuff into ya."

"I can only hope."

Loud creak sounded from the distance.

"Oh now what..." grumbled Ichigo as he vanished from view.

"Wha's goin' on?"

"Dunno, one of Aizen's pets just opened the cell door."

They both waited in silence for a minute before Hichigo said, "Crap, Aizen's asking for Ichigo. You'd better go, we can't risk him noticing anything."

Renji nodded, "I'm gunna be listening in, so tell me what's goin on, 'kay?"

"Sure thing Ren," he responded as Renji dissapeared.

"Aizen-sama reque-"

"I know he wants to talk to me you creepy pile of Hallow parts. Let's just get this over with already so I can go back to sleep." He followed the thing to Aizen's throne room, which hadn't changed at all since he was last there. The chair he was shoved into was even the same as the one he'd sat in previously.

"Welcome Kurosaki Ichigo. I trust you are well?"

"Cut the crap Aizen. I've still got three days 'till our fight, and I'm not really feeling up to a practice spar at the moment."

"Ah but that is not why I have brought you here. I wanted to show you my newest creation." He waved towards a corner where a statue looking thing was standing. It moved, which made Ichigo jump a bit in surprise, over next to Aizen, bowing deeply to it's master. "This is him. He has no name yet, but does have several interesting abilities. Along with the usual arrancar powers, he is the first I've created with natural healing abilities." Turning to his new pet he said, "Show him if you would." The newest arrancar nodded and moved near Ichigo. It extended it hands towards him, but didn't actually touch him.

"Oi! I don't want some creepy arrancar using any kind of weird abilities on me!"

"Do you not wish to be healed? I would have thought that you would appreciate being in top physical condition for the upcoming fight."

"I think I'd rather pass."

"Well, unfortunately for you, I wasn't giving you the option of declining." He nodded at the two twisted creatures behind Ichigo, which grabbed a hold of the struggling shinigami and held him in place.

"I'm going to kill you in the most painful way possible!" screamed Ichigo as the arrancar began it's work. Ichigo yelled in pain as his damaged bones were re-broken and set in the correct alignment by the 'healing' spell. He continued howling in agony as his all his muscles were essentially dissolved and regrown without all the damage and scarring that had accumulated. His tormented screams where punctuated by gasps of agony as his nervous system was set on fire by the supposed 'healing'. The pain he'd felt during every battle he'd ever been in in his life combined with all the torture sessions over the last year couldn't hold a flame to what he felt right now. After what felt like an eternity, but which was in actuality just about a minute, the creature's hands fell back to it's sides; it's job was finished. Ichigo slumped forward, gasping and practically sobbing from the ordeal.

"Yes... I should have warned you that this ability is not yet complete, and has the side effect of extreme pain."

"You will pant die sob and it will panting sob be every bit flinch as painful gasp as that was pant."

"We shall see Kurosaki; we shall see. Take him back to his cell."

The creatures pulled Ichigo to his feet and shoved him out of the room and back to his cell.

"Holy crap king..." said Hichigo as Ichigo lay, still panting and sobbing, on the bed of his cell. "That was way worse then anything he's ever done before."

"Don't remind me..." he practically whimpered, body still burning painfully.

"Do ya want me ta take over for a while? I can knock ya unconscious so ya don't have ta feel it."

"No," he said. "It's getting better. I'll be okay for now."

"If yer sure..." shrugged the Hallow. "Whadda ya want me ta tell Renji? He's practically begging for me ta tell him what's going on."

"Think of something, but just don't tell him what really happened. Last thing he needs is to go berserk and do something really stupid."

"Sure thing."

Ichigo sighed and tried to ignore the intense burning that radiated through his entire body. "Three more days..." he sighed and tried to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

They stand assembled, the entire Gotei 13, awaiting final orders before they ship out to war.

Yamamoto-soutaicho stands in silence as specialist teams scramble to open a portal to Hueco Mundo, as close to the fortress of Las Noches as they safely can.

The differences between the divisions has never been more so emphasized then now.

The 1st is ready and willing do do the bidding of their taicho and leader, never questioning, always loyal.

The 2nd is there, but they will not be joining the fight. They are to stay behind and defend the home front.

The 3rd stands tall and proud, lead by one who was once called a traitor, and who still carries the burden of that guilt. He is comforted however, by the knowledge that he is about to undertake the mission to save the one who saved him. He can finally repay the debt he never asked for, but has been happy to carry for all these long months.

The 4th is ready to fight and to heal, lead by their ever vigilant taicho. She stands in front of them all, smiling sadly, wishing there was another way, but understanding the need for the bloodshed all the same. The division was fragmented, squads having been attached all across the assembled army, only a small fragment of them staying together to man the field hospital or to remain behind to treat those who were unable to fight or who were sent back with the most grievous injuries.

The 5th, out of all the divisions, stands the most prepared and eager to go. They do not wish to fight, nor they wish to meet the enemy's of Soul Society on unfamiliar terrain. What motivates them is the desire to retrieve one of their own, a dear friend thought lost.

The 6th stands proud and stoic, lead by the nobleman who does not so much care about the fight as destroying the last traitor that nearly destroyed the Soul Society.

The 7th is much the same, lead by the fox spirit who wishes to avenge the memory of his lost friend against the insane traitor that warped and ultimately killed him.

The 8th is relaxed, on guard, and wary. Just like their taicho.

The 9th is ready and eager, much as the 5th. They stand silent, hands on their swords, waiting for the signal from their taicho, all knowing that at the end of the battle, they will have helped rescue one of their greatest allies and destroyed he who took their once beloved ex-taicho away from them.

The 10th stands strong and seemingly uninterested, much like their young taicho. They couldn't really care either way, as long as they are able to do their part to ensure the success of the mission.

The entire 11th division, along with their taicho and fukutaicho, are fighting the urge to charge through the portal without so much as a glance to the other divisions. All they know or care about is that there's some good fighting ahead, and that's all they need to be happy.

The 12th is there, although not the entire division. The fukutaicho stands alone, her taicho not even bothering to show up for this meeting. No, he is a scientist, and could not be bothered to attend such a useless and barbaric event.

The wise 13th is there as well, assembled but not prepared to set out. The division has been broken apart so that they might help fill in for the other's who are understaffed. Those being left behind offer prayers to those going, yet are still proud to stay behind to defend their home.

The soutaicho clears his throat, and all semblance of noise seems to vanish from the world. Even the ever present sounds of nature, so much a part of the background of normal life, cease as well. "You all know why you are here. I expect you to preform to the best of your abilities, to represent yourselves and your divisions with pride and honor. This is the largest force ever assembled in the history of the Gotei 13, and as such I expect great things from all of you. I fully expect you to be victorious in your conquests!"

Cheering from several divisions went on for several minutes before the soutaicho lifted a hand to ask for silence. "The upcoming battles will be difficult, and many of you will be injured, maybe even killed. Do not despair, for you will be considered heroes among all Soul Society! We shall defeat the traitor Aizen Sosuke and destroy his vile creations once and for all !"

It seemed as though the entire Sereitei was cheering at that declaration, and Yamamoto made no effort to quell the enthusiasm for several minutes. "The portal is nearly ready, so now is the time to make final preparations. I shall open the floor to the Taicho of the Gotei 13, if any wish to address the army."

They glanced along the line, waiting to see if any would step forward.

It was Ukitake that first came forward. Covering his mouth as he coughed, he addressed the crowd, "Believe me when I say that I wish I was going with you. But I am happy to stay behind in defense of this, our home, and the last beacon of hope in these dark times. Know that while you are there, those that remain behind will pray for your safety and well being. No matter what happens out there remember, you are not alone." He nodded to his Sensei and went to rejoin his division.

Komomura, to the astonishment of many, next came to address them. "I shant take up much time, as I know there are others who wish to address you. I speak more to those like myself that have been personally affect by the bastard Aizen and his evil. Although I do not condone revenge, I am more then ready to see that evil traitor brought to justice. This battle is about more then our forces versus his. This is about returning the world to its proper balance, and restoring the peace and prosperity we have fought so hard to protect. That is what we should be fighting for, and that is what I will fight for until I take my final breath." He returned to his division, the sounds of cheering and clapping following him all the way.

There was a pause before anyone else came forward. It took one final push from his fukutaicho, but finally he went forward to speak to them all.

His red-hair blazing as fiery as his eyes, Renji Abarai looked fiercer then Komomura ever could. "Alright, I ain't got much ta say, an' I won't repeat myself. That bat-shit-insane-Hallow-loving-jackass took someone very precious to me away, juss like he did ta a lot of ya. I'm more 'en ready ta pay 'em back, an' with plenty of interest. This time it's personal, and I refuse to fail. How many a ya are with me!"

There was a deafening roar as nearly every shinigami present applauded and cheered in approval of Renji's speech.

"Tha's exactly wha' I was hopin' ta hear!" he bellowed, just as excited as everyone else. "Let's go get this bastard!"

Whether it was fate or just really good timing, the second he finished the final syllable of the word 'bastard', the portal to Las Noches opened and stabilized.

The entire army took it as a positive sign.

Renji scrambled to rejoin his division as Yamamoto-soutaicho came forward to address them once again. "The portal is open and ready. Taicho's! The time has come!"

Kira called out firmly, "3rd division, move out!" He ran through the portal, followed closely by his division, ready for anything they found on the other side.

Just as the final squad of the 3rd entered the portal, Renji called out, "5th division, let's go!"

On the heels of the 5th, Byakuya merely motioned forward and called out in his calm monotone, "6th division, forward!"

Komomura waited until the last of Byakuya's division was through before raising his sword and calling out with a feral growl, "7th division! Onward to the final battle!"

"8th division, let's go..." Kyouraku sighed in a bored voice and urged his division onward on the tail of the 7th.

Shyuuhei, with much the same enthusiasm as Renji had, roared loudly, "9th division, it's time for some payback!" and charged forward.

"Move out!" was all the 10th division got from Hitsugaya-taicho, who still had his usual bored expression plastered on his face.

Zaraki only had to yell for joy at it finally being his turn and was already dashing through the gate before all of Hitsugaya's men had passed through. Of course, his division was hot on his tail.

Those left behind could only stand and stare at the portal that their comrades had just left through. Stand, stare, and pray.

"It's time." They all stand in front of the gate in the basement of Urahara's shop, nervous and slightly twitchy. "The gate on their end has been activated, and I'm working on the targeting lock right now." Urahara and Tessai both kneel on one side of the gate, working furiously. They can't afford a major delay between when they arrive and when the shinigami army does.

"This is your last chance to back out."

"Do you really think any of us would back out?"

"No, not really."

"We're ready Urahara-san," says Orihime confidently.

Sado only stood and watched.

Isshin was the picture of seriousness, something that unnerved Ichigo's friends, who where much more accustomed to the insane/goofy father they'd known for so long. "Still not sure they should be coming along Kisuke. I know they're battle tested, but this is way bigger then anything any of us have ever seen before."

"Would you really try and stop them?"

Isshin sighed, "No, I guess I wouldn't."

"You guys know what to do right?" asked Yuroichi for what to have been the thirtieth time that day alone.

"Yes Yuroichi, we know where to go."

"We're meeting Kukkaku there, right?"

"Yes, she's going to sneak through the portal in Soul Society, so she'll be there to meet us."

"Targeting lock confirmed," said Urahara. "Portal is stable."

"Okay kids, let's get going."

"You guys remember the instructions, right?"

"Yeah, run for all your worth cause we've only got four minutes before the portal closes. We've been doing this for years Urahara-san, so by now we'd better know."

"Well then, you've got all your gear, we've covered the rules of the portal, any one else have something to say?" He waited a full minute before saying, "No? Well then off you go."

Three humans and two ex-shinigami ran for all they're worth through the portal and off to Las Noches to join their comrades in battle.

"Spread out and secure the gate!" roared Kira as his division finished their travel through the portal between the world. "Let's make sure everyone gets through safely!" His division was already dug in and ready to defend to the death by the time that Renji and Komomura's divisions had finished their trip.

With a nod to Kira, Renji called for Rikichi and Sentarou, "Ya know what ta do! Find them an' make sure they get here safe!" He turned back to the rest of the division, "Clear the gate! Tha rest of um need room ta get through!"

"Abarai! Get these men out of the way!" called Hitsugaya as his division exited the gate. "Move them back!"

"Already on it!" he called back, using shunpo to herd the confused shinigami out of the way and back into their divisions. "Come on people! Get organized already!"

"Renji! Have you found them yet!"

"Rikichi and Sentarou are on it Senpai!"

"That's it! Everyone's through!" yelled Kira as the last of Zaraki's men came barreling out.

"Which way's the best fightin, yeah!"

"Calm down Zaraki! We need ta get the division's reorganized first!"

"Sirs! I have multiple hits on the scanner! Range... 0.6 miles. They do not appear to be Hallows or Arrancar!"

"Do ya have Rikichi or Sentarou on tha' thing yet?"

"Yes sir! It appears as though they are running to intercept!"

"Tha's great!" He shunpo-ed off to spread the word. The allies of Soul Society had arrived.

"Kurosaki-san!" called Rikichi as he and Sentarou approached the group. "Hey! This way!"

They turned and ran to where the two shinigami stood. "How far out are we?"

"Only about a half mile taicho."

"Been awhile since anyone called me taicho..." he grinned. "Right then, let's get to them as fast as we can!"

Renji, scanner in hand, watched as they got closer and closer. He darted to Shyuuhei and showed him, "Should be able ta see 'um in about a minute."

"Yeah, I'll make sure they get to Komomura and Kira undetected."

With a nod, he ran back to his division to finish final preparations.

Byakuya, who was the field general of the army, called the Taicho's to a quick meeting. "You all know your duties, so I won't waste time with them. I'll only give the signal to move out once, and if you miss it then that is your problem. Do not break formation for anything less then an army of Menos or Arrancar."

"We know this already Kuchiki."

"That may be Hitsugaya, but some of us," he said with the barest flick of a glance to Zaraki, "Tend to forget these things in the heat of battle."

"Feh, quit stallin' an' give the signal already. I'm sick a waiting!"

"Zaraki, calm yourself. We have a fairly large amount of ground to cover before we even get to the gates. There is no reason to doubt that he has detected our incursion, so it is safe to assume he has dispatched his forces to intercept."

"All tha more reason to get goin now, yeah!"

"Zaraki, you are a fool, ad bet a strong fool. Do not deploy your division until my signal, do you understand?"

"Feh, whatever." He turned his back to Byakuya and walked back to his division, Yachiru already back on his shoulder.

"Renji, what word of our allies?"

"Should be here any second now," he replied. "They were only 'bout a half mile out when they got here."

"Well, some of us where closer."

Byakuya turned to the intruder, "Ah Kukkaku Shiba, so good of you to join us. I see you made it through the portal unharmed."

"Yeah, thanks to Ukitake and an invisibility cloak I got from Yuroichi years and years ago."

"Good, now if they would just arrive quickly, we can set out."

The 5th seat from the 9th appeared behind Shyuuhei and whispered in his ear. "Good, dismissed." The messenger ran back to the division and Shyuuhei said, "They're here. Yumichika's escorting them now."

" !" shouted Isshin as they approached.

"Kurosaki-san! Thank Kami ya made it so fast!"

Isshin and Yuroichi arrived before Ichigo's friends did. "Aren't you guys a sight for sore eyes."

"Kurosaki Isshin, I am pleased you agreed to assist us."

"Couldn't let that bastard get away with kidnapping my son, now could I?"

"Renji!" waved Orihime happily as they finally got there.

"Hey Orihime, Sado, Ishida," he smiled. "Glad ya guys made it okay."

Sado nodded at Renji, and Ishida offered in his usual annoyed voice, "Yes well, the only reason I am here is because Ryuuken wants Aizen dead as much as the rest of us do."

"Right..."

"Enough pleasantries," snapped Hitsugaya, patience already wanning, "We need to get back to business."

"Anything from Ichigo yet, Renji?"

"Nothin," he replied. "He's either already busy fightin' er somethin's gone wrong with tha link. I can't even get Zangetsu er Shirosaki ta respond."

"Well Byakuya, time to head out or what?"

"Get the humans to their posts and return to your divisions."

"Right, Ishida and Sado, go with Komomura. Orihime, find Isane."

"Yes Kurosaki-san," said Orihime and Ishida, while Sado nodded quietly.

"Dismissed," said Byakuya as he turned to rejoin his division.

"Yuroichi, you ken go with Senpai," said Renji as they dispersed. "Kurosaki-san, you ken come with me if ya'd like."

"This ought to be interesting," grinned Yuroichi as she left with a slightly blushing Shyuuhei

"Who in their right mind would put Byakuya in charge of an army..." mused Isshin as they walked to the where the 5th stood waiting. "Sure, he's got skill, but that stick up his ass makes it hard for him to bend."

Renji fought hard not to laugh.

"Rukiaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" called Isshin happily when he spotted her walking around speaking to the squad leaders. She turned and called back, "Kurosaki-san!" and ran to hug him warmly. "You made it safely!"

"It would have taken more then just an army of Menos and Arrancar to keep me away."

"Battalion!" called Byakuya loudly. "Be prepared to move out in just a few moments!"

"No warning my ass..." muttered Renji as he called his division to attention. "Most a ya have never met this man," he called, gesturing to Isshin, who was standing on the opposite side of him as Rukia. "But ya'll know his son very well. Isshin Kurosaki will be joinin' our division durin' this battle, an' I expect all a ya ta do exactly what he tells ya ta. Understand?"

"Yes Taicho!"

"Good!"

"Battalion! Move out!"

"Ya know what ta do! Let's go kick some Hallow ass!"

"Hisagi-taicho! The Menos are coming!"

Shyuuhei turned around and stared at the top of the hill his 7th seat was pointing to. There was a single Menos, obviously one that Aizen had tampered with since not a single one of them had noticed it before, was standing at the top. "Would you like the honor's Yumi?"

"I believe the honor of the first kill belongs to my taicho," he returned elegantly.

"Suit yourself," he called back as he charged the Hallow.

"Renji, three Menos just over the ridge!" yelled Rikichi from the higher ground of the hill top.

"Here we go people!" called Rukia as she crested the ridge a split second before Renji.

"Howl Zabimaru!" called Renji as he ran his hand over the face of his blade. With an impressive leap, he launched himself at the closest Menos, slashing viciously at it's mask.

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" said Rukia as she swung her sword in a graceful circular arc in front of her. "First Dance: Tsukishiro!" The second Menos was caught in the giant glacier that rose from the ground, and was swallowed whole by it. Seconds later the glacier shattered, along with almost half of the Menos' body. Rikichi darted in and shattered the howling Hallow's mask with no difficulty at all.

No one even saw Isshin move, but the Menos he was standing in front of suddenly fell apart, sliced in half diagonally through the hole where it's heart should be.

Cheers erupt from the division members who'd seen what had to the be shortest fight against a group of Menos Grande in history.

"Nice one Isshin," called Yuroichi as she and the rest of the 9th crossed the ridge they'd been using for cover.

"Did you guys sense those Menos at all?" queried Shuu, a disconcerted look on his face.

"Naw, we only had warnin' cause Rikichi was runnin' on the ridge-top."

"That's just great. The scanners aren't picking them up either. We're going to have to send scouts out at this rate."

Seriously intensification of spiritual pressure from behind them and off to the right.

"There goes Byakuya's cover. Must have hit a big group of 'um ta need his Shikai."

"Or else the Arrancar are already here."

"Don't jinx it Senpai."

"Taicho's! Nine Menos approaching fast! It looks like there's a good sized group of lower grade Hallows behind them as well. Estimate at least thirty!"

Isshin whistled, "Nine Menos... This ought a be fun."

"Got tha' right... Juss hope Ichigo's okay."

"I'm thinking Bankai would be good at this point Renji," said Rukia.

"Tch... I'd hold off on Bankai as long as possible. Too much of an energy drain at this point. Shikai's enough to take these guys out."

"Fine by me," called Shyuuhei as motioned for Yumi to get their men in position. "Yumi and I'll take the three on the right."

"Yuroichi and I can take the three on the left," said Isshin with a nod at her before they both shunpo-ed off to destroy them.

"Which leave the middle three for us," nodded Rukia.

Renji turned to the 5th and 9th divisions. "You guys hang back 'till we get them dealt with. Second we're done, go after tha little guys behind. Got it?"

"Yes Taicho!" they all called out.

"Let's go Zabimaru," said Renji as he ran to meet the Menos on the right of the little line of opposition.

Rukia ran to the halfway point before stopping and repeating her earlier movement, "First Dance, Tsukishiro!" The Menos in the middle was swallowed by the glacier that Shirayuki created and shattered in half. "Shakkahou!" she called and crushed it's mask easily.

Renji leaped over the remains of the middle Menos and slashed at the third. It turned just soon enough to not be decapitated, but still suffered a very severe gash to the neck. Howling in fury, it fired a blast of Cero at him. He dodged easily and sliced in an horizontal arc at the Menos' legs. Severing one and causing the great beast to waiver dangerously, he reversed the direction of the swing and lopped off an arm.

"Quit playing with it and just kill it Renji!" called Isshin, who'd already finished off two of the three he'd been fighting.

"Sorry!" He split the Menos' mask cleanly in half and landed cleanly next to Rukia just as it finished howling it's last cry and disintegrated.

"Go help Shyuuhei!" called Yuroichi as she and Isshin started on the Hallows that were still approaching them.

"Get the squads out there Rukia," said Renji as he ran to help his friends.

"Squads three through eight, take the left. Nine through the 9th's five, take the middle. Rest of the 9th, take the right when the Taicho's are finished!"

"What's takin' ya so long Senpai?" asked Renji as he joined the battle with the final of the nine Menos.

"Yumi's having a field day with it. Won't stop goofing off," he growled as he dodged to avoid a Cero blast.

"Quit screwin' around Yumi! If yer gunna Bankai, then do it!"

"Sorry Renji. I had forgotten how much fun it was to fight like this," he apologized and ceased toying with the enraged Menos.

"Fer tha love a..." growled Renji as he whipped Zabimaru in a tight arc across the Menos' mask. It didn't shatter, but was cracked nearly all the way through.

Shuu stabbed the Menos in the face and the mask finally broke apart. It screamed in pain and fury as it dissapeared.

Three minutes and thirty Hallows later, "Think we should check on Byakuya an' his group. They've been at it fer a while now."

"I guess. We need to head more in that direction anyway."

"Right then," he motioned for the group to follow him and they all climbed the ridge.

"Holy fuck..." blinked Shyuuhei when they reached the top.

"Got that right," nodded Isshin.

Hundreds of Menos and Hallows flooded the valley below them, engaged in battle with the 6th and 10th divisions.

"Well then, what's say we lend everyone a hand?"

Renji turned to his division, "Stay clear of Kuchiki-taicho's Shikai! Last thin' we need is a friendly fire accident."

"That goes for you too," added Shyuuhei to his division.

"Stop standing and get out there already," said Isshin as he and Yuroichi picked individual targets and joined the fight.

Yumi and Rukia where already half way down the hill, and the two divisions where spilling over the top of the ridge. Those already fighting yelled for joy at the sight of reinforcements

Renji picked the closest Menos and went to town on it.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura." Byakuya's blade seemed to dissolve into thousands of tiny sakura petals. The three Menos in front of him merely screeched and continued to charge at him. Then, faster then you could blink, all three where covered in slash marks and their masks were crumbling to dust as they too dissapeared.

"Nice one!" congratulated Renji as the two Menos' he fought fell over, missing legs but not defeated. Two more slashes with Zabimaru and they too were gone, nothing but a bad and fading memory.

"If you have time to talk...," said Byakuya calmly, "...then you have time to fight."

Renji sliced Zabimaru in a long, wide arc and destroyed six Hallows, injuring five more enough for the others to defeat easily. "Some a us ken multi task pretty well !"

Byakuya didn't respond, opting instead to turn several dozen Hallows into mincemeat with one flick of his Shikai.

"Renji! There's a really big one about a hundred yards behind you!" called Rikichi as he darted around the tentacle of one very large and nasty looking Hallow.

Renji turned around and swore, "Shit! Tha' really is big!" He dodged a barrage of needles from a Hallow off to his right and nearly missed being speared by the claws of another. "Kami, there's so many..."

Off in the distance, you could hear someone, probably Yumichika, shout "Bankai!"

"Well, he's got tha right idea..." said Renji as he slashed at the needle-throwing Hallow, severing it's legs and leaving it for one of the random shinigami that fought around them. "Bankai! Hihiou Zabimaru!" The sand around him exploded upwards and shrouded him from view as Zabimaru's now skeletal form flew towards the giant Menos. It struck soundly, causing serous damage to it's body, but not close enough to the mask to kill it. Renji flicked the hilt of the giant sword and Zabimaru's head abruptly flew upwards. Another flick made it encircle the Menos with it's body and with a final downward slash, it's open-mawed form tore the head off the body and crushed it into powder.

"Renji, there's a herd of ice-breathers heading for you!"

"I see 'um!" He maneuvered Zabimaru so that it was moving parallel to the ground once more, rushing to meet the pack of Hallow. Jaw's wide open, it roared angrily and with a flick of it's head, threw the entire pack of Hallows five hundred feet in the air. There was a call of, "Bankai! Daiguren Hyourinmaru!" and a blast of icy spears from Hitsugaya finished them off as he rose into the air on the wings of his Bankai

"Next Dance: Hakuren!" called Rukia as she faced down her own Menos and pack of Hallows. A giant wave of ice rippled through the sandy valley, freezing and destroying all the hallows in it's path.

Yuroichi, arms and leg's glowing with the power of her Shunka, cracked the mask of the Menos she was facing with an almighty kick.

Yumi was sucking the energy from all the Hallows around him, his Bankai glowing a bright green, as members of the 5th and 6th crushed them into powder.

Shyuuhei was just visible, slashing and running around three large Hallows, a Menos still disintegrating just behind him.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi. Senkei." Byakuya seemed to disappear, along with a single Gillian, five Menos, and ten large not-quiet-Menos level Hallows. When he reappeared several second later, every one but the shrieking Gillian was gone. With a flick of his wrist, two columns of blades converged on said Gillian, engulfing it in an undulating mass of razor sharp blades. His attention turned elsewhere, guiding the blades to another target, leaving the mutilated Gillian to writhe in agony before finally fading from existence.

"Where tha hell are they all commin' from!" called Renji as he felled ten Hallows and another Menos. "There's no end ta 'um!"

"I don't know!" called back Shuu, "But we can't keep this up much longer! We've got to get to the castle!" He was forced to duck or lose his head to the claws of a particularly fast Hallow. He was just about to circle around it when the Hallows mask was split in half. "The fuck! Where'd Hotsukimaru come from!" He turned around quickly and saw Ikkaku running to retrieve his zanpakto. "Where'd you come from Ikkaku?"

"Snuck through tha gate and had Orihime heal me. Ya didn't think I'd skip out on a battle like this, did ya?"

"Not really, and thank Kami for your timing. You see Zaraki or Kyouraku yet?"

"Yeah, saw taicho on the way here. He's got another good sized army ta worry about, but he's handlin' it pretty well apparently. Told me ta come help ya guys."

"What about the gate? Is it still safe?"

"There's been a couple a little buggers that've gotten through, Kira and Komomura got it covered. Hell, we're keeping so many of them back that they're sending us reinforcements now."

"Good. We've got to get this group under control before we break off and storm the castle."

"Well then, stop chattin' and let's get ta fightin'!" He ran into the fray, Hotsukimaru held aloft like the spear that it's current form was.

"Was tha' Ikkaku I juss saw!"

"Yeah Renji!" replied Shuu as they worked on a pack of fire-breathers together. "He snuck through the gate and got Orihime to heal him."

"Good, we ken use his help."

"Got that right," he nodded before stabbing through the mask of the Hallow that dared to get close enough to him to reach. "Is it just me, or do they just keep getting stupider?"

Renji laughed and swung Zabimaru's huge bulk around in a wide arc to scatter and crush as many of the smaller Hallows surrounding them as he could. "Yeah, they're gettin' stupider all tha time." He positioned Zabimaru so that it faced a large group of ice-breathers that was running to meet with a group of younger foot soldiers. He had the only clear shot and took it. "Hikotsu Taiho!" Zabimaru roared and a blast of pure red energy exploded forth from the gaping maw, obliterating the entire pack in the blink of an eye.

"Renji!" called Hitsugaya as he soared over them, the icy wings of his Bankai spread wide. "Gather your men and get out of here! Zaraki's on his way to join us! We can handle these peons without you!"

"What's Byakuya say 'bout tha'?"

"He's already told Rukia and Kurosaki-san to get going!"

"Right, thanks Toushiro!"

"I'll get Yumi and Ikkaku," said Shuu as he shunpo-ed to find them.

Renji shunpo-ed to where Rukia was standing with Rikichi, Isshin, and Yuroichi. "Come on, we're grabbin' Yumi and Ikkaku an headin' fer the gates."

"We'll go ahead and take out the guards," said Isshin with a nod to Yuroichi.

"Come on, let's clear a path for the others."

Renji nodded and sent Zabimaru flying ahead of them, partially clearing the path ahead. Rikichi stabbed and slashed at the Hallows that didn't immediately fall, and Rukia used a combination of kidou and Shirayuki to finish everything left over or that Rikichi wasn't able to destroy himself.

Giant spears of ice, launched by Hitsugaya, impacted all around them, destroying everything they touched. Streaks of pink swirled around Byakuya as he guided Senbonzakura through the masses of Hallows. The manic laugh of Zaraki joined the background noise of the battle as his group joined the fight. Kyouraku was darting around, the fastest of all of them, Hallows seeming to dissolve whenever he got near them.

Shyuuhei and the boys joined them about a half mile from the gates of Las Noches, just as they came into view.

"Where are Kurosaki-san and Yuroichi?" asked Yumichika when they noticed the lack of guards at the gates. "Have they already gone inside?"

"I hope not..." said Shuu, lashing out at a Hallow that appeared to his right. "They'd ruin the plan if they went ahead without us."

"I see 'em," said Renji. He pointed just off the the left of the gate. He could just make out Isshin and Yuroichi standing there half hidden by a sand dune.

"What kind of guard where they?" asked Shuu when they finally got to them.

"Some kind failed experiments I think. Definitively not at the level of the arrancar. Not even really worth the Hallow parts they were made out of."

"The hell... where are the real Arrancar? I know we haven't destroyed them all."

"Waiting inside most likely. You know Aizen, he likes to have his strongest pets around to do his dirty work."

"Or made they've already joined the fight and we just can't tell."

"Yeah, what the hell is up with that? I can't feel any of the Hallow's here."

"I don't know, but it cannot be a good thing."

"Well, we ken stand out here an talk, or we ken get in there an rescue Ichigo," he said as Zabimaru returned to it's sealed form.

"Have you managed to regain contact with him at all?"

"No, still dead. 'm startin' ta worry too. I have no clue if he's okay, an' we could really use some info on wha' it's like inside. An' where the hell in the castle he is fer tha matter."

"It's not the first time we have gone in blind," said Yumi. "It can not be all that bad."

"This is Aizen we're talkin' 'bout Yumi. It's gunna be bad."

"Enough talking," said Isshin. "Let's just hurry up and get in there."

"Works fer me," shrugged Ikkaku.

"Where the bloody hell are all these damn things coming from!"

"Taicho! The top of the hill !"

Toshiro's eye's flicked up from the ground below him to the hills ahead and he sighed.

Three Arrancar stood a top them, watching the carnage without much interest.

"Get the squads back Rangiku! I want anyone below 4th seat at least 300 yards away from here! Now!"

"Yes Taicho!" she called back, dispatching the cat-like hallow she'd been fighting and spreading the word to the squads on the group.

Toushiro banked and flew to where Byakuya was quickly decimating the ranks of the enemy with precise blows form his incredible Bankai. "Byakuya! The Arrancar are here! Three at the top of the hill 50 yards back!"

Byakuya turned to see, "Order the squads back. You and I shall take care of them."

"We should find Kyouraku! We need all the fire power we've got!"

"Agreed." He motioned for his 6th seat to approach. "Inform him that he is needed here."

"Yes Taicho!" saluted the weary officer as he shunpo-ed off in search of the other taicho.

"You," he called to one of his runners, "Get back to the gate and inform them of the fighting. Tell them that there are small packs escaping to them." Byakuya turned and with a single step, shunpo-ed to the base of the hill. "Arrancar. Your fight is with me."

One of the Arrancar stepped forward, "Sou ka shinigami? Well then, what's say you and I dance, neh?"

"What about your little friend up there shinigami? Is little Shiro-chan gunna play too?" asked another in a taunting sing-song voice.

Vein throbbing and the twitch in his jaw in overdrive Toushiro bellowed, "DO NOT CALL ME SHIRO-CHAN!" He whipped Hyourinmaru through the air at the Arrancar and stabbed it cleanly in the chest with a bellowed battle-cry of, "RYUSENKA!"

The taunting Arrancar just manged to grin before being enveloped in a prison of ice. With a barely audible chuckle, the ice shattered and the Arrancar yawned, "That all you got, Shiro-chan?"

"Oi, Byakuya. What's with Toushiro?" asked Kyouraku as he shunpo-ed up next to the nobleman.

"He called him Shiro-chan," came the simple reply.

"Hehehe," chuckled at taicho dryly. "You're in trouble now my friend."

"Oi! We gunna dance or not?"

"I take it that one is yours?"

"Unfortunately."

He patted the nobleman's shoulder, "Well, I guess I can take the quiet one then."

"As you wish," he said and walked off towards the east (or whatever the Hueco Mundo equivalent is).

"Come on Shiro-chan," taunted the one with the sing-song voice, "Let's get this party started." With that, it used sonido to disappear over the hill.

Toushiro followed, vein's in his neck and forehead throbbing, the ticks in his eye and jaw taken to new levels of insanity.

"So I guess you and I can go at it here," said Kyouraku to the remaining Arrancar, who'd been completely silent up to this point.

No response.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

The Arrancar looked down at him.

That's when the taicho noticed something interesting.

"Ahhhh, I see now."

Obviously, Aizen didn't think to much of them if he was sending his failed Arrancar after them. The reason why that one had remained silent for so long was obvious once you got a look at it's face without the partial mask blocking your view. He didn't have a mouth.

"Well, you must have been pretty damn pissed to have gone through all the trouble to become an Arrancar only to lose your ability to eat and talk. Can't last too long like that, eh?"

Death glare and a raised hand.

Kyouraku blinked and ducked out of the way as a blast of Cero nailed the spot he'd just been standing in. He picked his head up from the sand and stared, "That's new."

It wasn't missing a mouth. It's mouth had just moved.

"Kira-taicho!" called the breathless 6th division runner as she leaped over the ridge behind the gate. "The Hallows are here! The army has engaged them, but the numbers are greater then we anticipated."

"That explains all the Bankai's," he nodded. "I'm guessing the sensors are useless."

"Yes sir, unfortunately."

"Right, get back to your divisions. We can take care of anything that makes it this far."

"Yes Taicho!"

Kira jogged over to where Komomura had set up, "We have a problem. The sensors are useless for detecting the Hallows."

"Yes," agreed the fox spirit. "I gathered that about the time that Byakuya released his Bankai."

"3 scout teams should be enough?"

"It will have to be. We cannot afford to be any more shorthanded if multiple Menos appears. Heaven forbid if a Gillian or Adjucar comes."

"I doubt that they will let anything that powerful pass. It's not that difficult to spot one on the field."

"I hope you are correct, Kira."

"So do I," he sighed. "I'll inform the humans."

"I shall organize the scouts then."

"Gunna have to do better then that Shiro-chan!" laughed the black-haired Arrancar as he dodged every attack that Toushiro launched.

"Oh trust me you filthy-piece-of-leftover-parts, I haven't even begun to fight yet."

"Sure seems like it kid. Whadda ya call all those ice spears you've been launching for the last five minutes?"

Toushiro swooped low and landed lightly, "That? I call it a distraction."

The Arrancar blinked.

Toushiro focused and released a huge amount of freezing reiatsu. The ground all around him froze solid, and a thick layer of frost appeared on the Arrancar. "You're in my world now scum." Wings flared behind him as stabilizers, the master of ice skated on the frozen ground, Hyourinmaru held up over one shoulder like a whip. "You seriously underestimated me, and that is never a good idea." He skated right up to the Arrancar and glared at it, "10th Division Taicho, Hitsugaya Toushiro. Master of ice and the undisputed genius of the Gotei 13. You picked the wrong person to play with." He raised a hand and blasted the Arrancar with even more frozen reiatsu, encasing it with even more ice.

The Arrancar glared, "Feh, don't you go thinking that you've got a shot at beating me Shiro-chan." He struggled for a moment and shattered the ice that encased his arms and upper body. "It's just too bad for you that I ain't got a name ta give you. Kinda defeats the purpose of tellin' some tha' name of his executioner, don't it?"

"He's not even bothering to name his pets anymore? Well, that's got to be encouraging for your side." He leaped back into the air to avoid the blast of Cero his nameless advisary lunched at him.

"Feh, can't blame Aizen-sama. A God doesn't have time to deal with waste of time like naming his creations."

"Interesting. Too bad Aizen's not a god." He leveled Hyourinmaru at the creature and yelled, "Sennen Hyoro!" Pillars of ice grow with startling speed from the ground around the Arrancar, encasing him in a fresh prison of ice. "Ryusenka!" He stabbed through the single opening in the prison and right into the Arrancar's left eye.

Blood spewed from the wound for the split second it took for more ice to encase him. The entire prison shattered and the Arrancar fell to a knee, clutching at it's now useless eye. "You bastard..." he growled. "You're gunna pay for that."

"You wish," said the taicho as he wrapped the Arrancar with Hyorinmaru's tail turned the creature into a solid block of ice from the inside. He circled for a minute, waiting to see if the Arrancar would break this newest prison. Satisfied, he banked and landed in front of him, rapping at the ice with a knuckle.

Nothing.

"Told you so," he said and shattered the ice with a swift punch.

A blazing blue arrow pierce the gloom of the perpetual night-scape desert.

"Che, mindless beast," stated Uryuu calmly as the Hallow dissolved. Another from off to his left screamed and he turned. Another arrow pierced it's mask before the thing had enough time to start towards the Quincy. "Are you sure they really needed us here?"

"Hmm," was the only reply he got from Sado. The tall man pulled his arm back and punched hard, sending a blast of energy at the lightning-blasting Hallow he was facing.

"I Reject!" called Orihime as she used her powers to remove the arm of a large Hallow with multiple heads and fiercely snapping jaws.

Two arrows rapid-fired from Uryuu's bow sliced cleanly through it's mask and it shrieked one last defiance before returning to the nothingness it came from.

"I almost wish we had gone with Ichigo."

"We're of more use here Ishida-kun," said Orihime as she rushed to help a shinigami from the 7th that had a badly gashed arm.

His only response to her statement was five arrows fired to pierce the air as he obliterated a trio of fire-breathers trying to attack a squad of already engaged shinigami.

"Yanno, for a taicho you're pretty damn slow!" taunted the purple-haired Arrancar that was the current focus of Byakuya Kuchiki.

"Would it interest you to know that I've only been fighting at Shikai?"

"Eh?" He chuckled and grinned, "Yer lying through yer teeth shinigami. I saw you Bankai a while ago."

"True, I did Bankai to fight the Gillian before, but, unlike some, I choose to conserve my energy for when I really need it." The tiny blades of Senbonzakura condensed back into a single blade upon the hilt of his sword. He inverted the blade and dropped it point first to the ground, "Scatter, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi." The blade dissapeared into the ground and a massive formless lump of tiny pink blades appeared at his feet.

"Feh, so you got more blades. Big deal."

The bored looking nobleman just watched him.

"Well, if you're just gunna stand there..." he used sonido to get behind Byakuya and sent a massive blast of Cero at him.

The blades formed a barrier between the blast and Byakuya, who acted as if he hadn't even noticed.

The Arrancar continued using sonido, trying to get around the defensive capabilities of Senbonzakura, but failed miserably.

"Well, I see we have a bit of a stale-mate going on here."

"Stalemate?" Byakuya blinked serenely, not at all amused. "You are mistaken Arrancar. There is no stalemate. As you have just seen, you cannot injure me. From where I stand, you have already lost."

The finally syllable of the statement hadn't even hit the Arrancar's ears and Byakuya had already Shunpo-ed in front of it, hand extended and chanted, "Hado #1 :Kai !"

The Arrancar's arms where pinned to his side's as the binding spell took affect. Byakuya stared right into the eyes of the Arrancar and said, "Kuchiki Byakuya, Taicho of the 6th division and leader of the Kuchiki clan." The Arrancar managed to break the bind just as Byakuya moved back to a safe distance.

"Well, lucky me. I get the famous Byakuya-fucking-Kuchiki as my playmate. Aizen-sama will be pleased when I bring your bloody head in on a pike."

"How very crude and vulgar," he commented with a shake of his head. He gathered the blades of his Bankai around him and said, "Senkei."

The innumerable blades dissapeared and four rows of blades appeared around himself and his quarry as the sky around them darkened even further then the normal state of Hueco Mundo.

"Neat trick. Does it do anything?"

"Such arrogance." The nobleman gestured toward the Arrancar and several of the swords rose form the ground to attack him.

He dodged, missing receiving a fatal blow, but still sustaining a painful gash to the shoulder. "I see now. You can control them at will. Effective, but not enough to stop me fro..." He stopped mid sentence when he realized that he couldn't move anything below the waist. "...the hell?"

"Gokei." Every single sword rose from the ground and attacked from all possible angles, skewering the Arrancar.

The Arrancar would have pitched forward onto a knee if not for the fact that the swords still embedded with in his body and the binds holding him prevented it.

"Bas...tard..." he hacked.

Byakuya called back all the swords, "Before I kill you, I am curious as to your name."

He chuckled as he slumped forward against the binds, "Feh, ain't got one. My brothers and I haven't earned one yet."

"Unfortunate." He walked forward until he was directly in front of him. Raising a hand over the slumping Arrancar's head, "Shukei: Hakuteiken." Everyone of Byakuya's blades dissapeared and in his hand appeared a single glowing sword. A pair of elegant white wings appeared on the taicho's back and he asked, "Do you have anything you wish to say?"

"Yeah, I do actually." He coughed harshly, blood flecking the ground in front of them. "Go to Hell."

Sighing, "Such vulgarity. Aizen would do well to teach your kind some manners." He raised the sword further and slashed down quickly, ending the fight and the life of the nameless Arrancar in one fell swoop.

An unusually large Hallow stood howling, it's arm hanging heavy and useless, fists digging into the ground. Kira raised Wabisuke for another attack, leaping high and delivering three rapid hits to it's mask. Said Mask cracked slightly and the Hallows head drooped, now weighting 8x's what it previously had. Raising a hand he called out, "Shakkahou!" The blast hit the Hallow square in the center of it's mask, fracturing it more, but not destroying it completely.

A giant disembodied sword flew over his head and right into the mask, shattering it completely and killing the hallow.

"Thanks Komomura!" called Kira, already moving to intercept the next one.

"Be careful! That one is an energy-drainer!"

"Right!" He switched tactics, using kidou only to destroy it.

"Kira-fukutaicho! Komomura-taicho! Message from Matsumoto-fukutaicho!"

"What is it now?"

"Sirs, three Arrancar have appeared and are currently being engaged by Hitsugaya-taicho, Kuchiki-taicho, and Kyouraku-taicho."

"That's not good," said Kira, alarmed. "Where is Zaraki-taicho?"

"To the best of my knowledge he is currently battling several dozen Menos, aided only by Kusajishi-fukutaicho. He personally lured them away from the main battle in order to avoid injury to the rest of the army."

"So what you are saying is that the fukutaichos are running the army at the moment."

The messenger blinked, "You could interpret the situation like that, sir."

"Can you handle the fighting here Kira-fukutaicho?"

"As long as we don't encounter anything more powerful, yes, we should be fine here be ourselves. Why?"

"I'm going to join the rest of the army. I have a feeling I will be needed soon."

"Right. I'll tell Iba that you are going."

"Show me where The Arrancar are," he told the messenger as Kira shunpo-ed off to find Iba.

"So, we just going to stand here and stare at each other or are we going to fight?"

The horned Arrancar stood there, silent.

"Of course we are..." Kyouraku sighed. He raised the twin falchions that are Katen Kyokotsu's Shikai ready.

The Arrancar continued to stare, seemingly unconcerned.

"Tell me something before we start. You got a name?"

The Arrancar shook his head.

"What, he's not even giving you names anymore?"

Nod.

"Poor you. Can't talk and no name. That cannot be a fun life."

Glare.

"Feh..." he sighed and shook his head. "Might as well tell you mine anyway. Kyouraku Shunsui, 8th division Taicho."

The Arrancar nodded and raised his hand in a mock salute before firing a blast of Cero at him.

A tornado appeared in front of Kyouraku and the blast was deflected. He slashed with the left handed sword and a wave of wind whipped up the sand and rolled straight for the Arrancar.

It raised it arms to protect it's face, but did not move at all. Small cuts appeared along it's arms and his clothing was torn, but other wise he was unharmed.

"Hmmm... let's try that again..." He slashed with the right sword and hundred of wind shuriken flew at the horned-creature, slashing deeply at his unprotected arms, shoulders, and legs. "Better," he nodded.

The Arrancar's arms moved and it glanced down at the damage. He shrugged and went back to watching Shunsui.

"Patient one, aren'tcha?"

Nod.

"Ahhh..." Without another word, he Shunpo-ed forward and launched a brutal attack at the creature. Slashing and hacking without abandon, he managed to force the Arrancar back several feet with the sheer force of his strikes.

The Arrancar defended with his own sword, blocking many of the attacks, but Kyouraku, with his two swords, had the advantage.

Too bad he managed to get a foot trapped in the shifting sands and tripped.

Not waisting the opportunity, the Arrancar stabbed viciously at the vulnerable taicho. Kyouraku just managed to avoid a fatal hit, rolling just fast enough to deflect the strike from his heart and into the tissue of his left shoulder, outside his rib cage.

"That wasn't very nice buddy," he cringed as the sword was viciously torn from his chest.

The Arrancar gave him a moment to get to his feet.

Kyouraku stood, hand pressed firmly to the wound. "Eh, wasn't expecting that. You'd actually let me get to my feet then killing me where I lay?"

The Arrancar nodded and raised his sword in the warriors salute.

Kyouraku blinked, confused for a moment. Understanding dawning in his eyes, "Oh I get it. You won't kill attack a defensively man in battle. Is that it?"

A nod in response.

"Heh... you sure you work for Sosuke?"

All he got as an answer was a grin and the Arrancar disappearing from sight.

Shunsui flung the left blade behind his shoulder to block the strike. He ducked, whipping around while still blocking the blade, aiming an arcing slash with his right blade at the creature behind him. His blade met only air, and he was forced to reverse the strike in order to block another attack from just behind and to the right. He stabbed over his head, a move he knew probably wouldn't work, and manage to slice into the cheek of his opponent before it was gone.

A blast of Cero from a few feet away forced him to duck for cover or be obliterated.

"Having fun Kyouraku?"

"Actually, yeah. I am. You finished already Toushiro-kun?"

"Why yes, yes I am. What is taking you so long?"

The taicho stood up and brushed the sand from his shihaksho. "Nothing, really. Just enjoying the fight." He blocked the half-hearted Cero blast with the blunt side of his falchions before shunpo-ing behind the Arrancar and slashing through both it's shoulders. He shunpo-ed away before it had time to react and waited for the next attack.

"Would you like some help?"

"Naw, I'm good."

"You sure?"

"Course I am," he said as he ducked a blast and sent a tornado and several hundred wind shuriken at the Arrancar.

"Right then. I'll just take care of the ten Menos on their way and leave you to your fight."

"See you in a bit Toushiro-kun."

He had to leap high into the air to avoid the two separate Cero blasts of the the Arrancar's current volley.

"Interesting trick. How'd you do that?"

The Arrancar held up both hands.

"Oh wow. Two mouths. That makes this more interesting."

A nod and another volley of blasts.

"Yanno," he grunted as he landed and rolled. "I would have thought you'd have changed into your Hallow form by now."

The Arrancar waited until he'd stood up and faced him before shaking his head and shrugging.

"You can't transform?"

Head shake.

"What about the other two?"

Head shake.

"So you aren't true Arrancar."

Blink. Shrug and head tilt.

"Are you or aren't you Arrancar?"

He held up a single finger and nodded.

"Yes to being Arrancar?"

Nod. A second finger was raised and he shook his head.

"Yes to being Arrancar but a no to being able to transform?"

Nod.

"Huh... Something go wrong while you where being changed?"

Shrug.

"Figures he wouldn't tell you."

The Arrancar nodded and pointed to his sword.

"Resume the fight?"

Nod.

"Might as well." He resumed his battle ready stance and waited for the next attack...

...which never came.

The Arrancar dropped where he stood, a giant sword being weld by an ever larger disembodied arm sticking out of his back.

"Oi! What the hell Komomura! I had it under control!"

The fox spirit jogged up the hill to where Shunsui and the Arrancar had been fighting. "You where taking too long. I thought you required aide."

Kyouraku sighed, "I didn't, but don't worry about it. I would have finished him off in a minute or two anyway." He walked over to the fallen Arrancar, who had yet to die. It was watching him with a look that plainly said, "Well damn, that wasn't fair."

"Sorry about that. I guess we ran a bit too long for my comrade's taste."

The Arrancar managed to nod before it's eye's dimmed and became glassy. It's head fell forward and it began dissolving into dust.

The arm and sword dissapeared as Komomura walked up. "Any particular reason you were speaking to that Arrancar like that?"

He looked up at the fox, "Believe it or not Sajin, some of these Arrancar are decent fighters. He may have been the enemy, but anyone that fights with honor is worthy of respect. You of all people should understand that."

Sajin nodded and the two of them separated, Sajin going back the way he came and Shunsui heading off to help Toushiro.

"How're we gunna do this, King?"

"I don't know, but we're just going to have to improvise until we can regain contact. Should a known something like this was going to happen..."

: As much as I cannot believe I am saying this, we may well be better off blasting our way out of here and trying to meet them half way. It's obvious from the alarms that the army has arrived and the battle has begun. :

Ichigo knelt in front of the cell door, a small sliver of rock he'd dislodged from the walls in hand. He used it to lift the pins from the hinges of the small door that had once been used to shove his food and water through. He carefully lifted the small flap away noiselessly and looked out through the hole. Seeing nothing immediately in front of him, he risked sticking his head all the way out. The hall was deserted.

"No guards...?"

"Nows the time ta go aibou."

: Shirosaki is right Ichigo. If we are going to leave, now is the time. :

Ichigo pulled his head back into the room and sighed. "Alright... but I'm blaming the two of you if all hell breaks loose." He walked all the way to the other end of the cell, which was really only about ten paces deep anyway, and raised Zangetsu. With a call of, "Getsuga Tenshou!" he blasted the entire wall of the cell into oblivion. He didn't wait for the dust to settle, jumping over the rubble and running off down the hall to the right, away from where he remembered Aizen's throne room to be.

"Should we knock?"

"Don't be retarded Ikkaku. Just blast the damn thing down."

Rukia rolled her eyes and shoved at the door of the castle. It opened slowly and with an alarmingly loud creaking noise.

"Well, if they didn't already know we where here, I'd be worried about that."

"Come on, we need to hurry."

The ran inside quickly, but stopped not a hundred feet inside, confronted with three different passage ways.

"Of course there are..." grumbled Renji, face palming.

"You knew he was going to redecorate after the last time."

"Someone pick a tunnel already."

"Yuroichi an' Kurosaki-san take tha left. Ikkaku, Yumi, an' Rikichi take tha right. Senpai, Rukia, an' I'll take tha middle."

"If you hit a dead end, blast through it. Might as well do some damage while we're here."

"Stealth our friend is not."

"Got that right..."

"Juss get going already," called Renji as he stared down the middle corridor.

"Course, I've got no clue where I'm going..." grumbled Ichigo as he turned another corner into another identical looking hallway. "This place just had to be built like a maze with no windows or signs."

"Shaddap an just keep runnin. We've got ta be gettin close ta something by now."

"Or else we're going in the completely wrong direction and are getting farther away from everyone."

"Well, if push comes ta shove, pick a direction and blast that way. Eventually you'll hit an outer wall."

"True enough." He turned another corner and groaned.

There was the rubble from the wall of his cell.

He was going in circles.

"Right, time to backtrack to the throne room..."

"How far does this hallway go...?" said Yuroichi after they'd been running in a straight line for nearly ten minutes.

"Somethings not right..." He looked behind him and saw nothing but the endless hallway, same as what was ahead. His eye brows knitted together and he slowed to a stop. "It's identical..."

"What?"

"Look both ways... the hallway's completely identical..."

Yuroichi studied the view form both directions and sighed, "It's an illusion..."

"Well then, what's say we blast out?"

"After you."

Isshin held out a hand and blasted the hallway behind them. The wall crumbled, the illusion masking the holding cell dissapeared. They stepped out over the rubble of the wall and into a large open chamber. There where two more doors against the wall, both closed and containing the others. Isshin shattered the door of the nearest cell while Yuroichi took the farthest.

"Oh fer fuck's sake..."

They stood in a large arena filled with all the crazy variations of Hallows they'd come to hate.

"Energy-suckers... Why did it have to be energy-suckers..." sighed Shuu.

"It's going to be a long day..." agreed Rukia as she raised Shirayuki and readied for the inevitable attack.

A single piercing wail was all the warning they got before the masses of hallow attacked!

Renji just managed to duck a bolt of lightning, rolled, and slashed with an already released Zabimaru. The hallows mask shattered easily and it dissapeared, only to have it's place taken almost immediately by a slightly smaller fire-breather. Renji rolled to his feet and shunpo-ed to avoid being roasted alive.

A blast of red energy hit the Hallow in the back of it's head, decapitating it. Shyuuhei dodged the slashing claws of his own opponent, getting under it's guard and stabbing upward with his sword.

"Next Dance: Hakuren!" called Rukia, sending a giant wave of ice into the pack of swarming hallows, destroying over a dozen.

Renji was up and slashing wildly, felling his fair share easily.

"Anyone think this is too easy?" called Shuu as he leaped over another hallow.

"Yeah..." agreed Renji as he slashed in an a long, wide arc with Zabimaru. "They've never been this easy before."

"Hang on a second," added Rukia. "First Dance: Tsukishiro!" she called and froze one of the lightning-throwers. "Renji, find one of the other lightning-throwers and hold it for me!"

" 'Kay!" he called back and crushed the fire-breather he was working on. Easily spotting another lightning-thrower, he ran to it and called out, "Hado #1: Kai!" freezing the thing in place.

Rukia shunpo-ed to him and stared intently at it. "No way..."

"What?"

She turned, shunpo-ed back to the one she had frozen, shattered it, and shunpo-ed back. "It might just be me, but they all look the same."

"Hallow's all look a like."

"No," she shook her head. "I mean they are identical to each other."

"She has a point Renji!" called Shuu as he stabbed yet another ice-breather that got in his way. "They all do look a lot a like."

"Ya think maybe...?"

"Wouldn't surprise me."

Rukia and Renji turned, faced the hallway they'd come out of and called, "Shakkahou!"

The twin blasts of energy impacted the solid wall of the room and blasted through the illusion. Roughly hewn rock walls greeted them as the images of the Hallows dissapeared.

"Well, that was totally expected."

"Got tha' righ'," nodded Renji. He was just about to destroy the wall when a blast from behind it did the job for him.

"And tha' will be Kurosaki-san and Yuroichi."

"I really hate Aizen right now..." grumbled Shyuuhei as he climbed over the remnants of the wall.

"Never-ending tunnel?"

"Never-ending swarm of Hallows."

Seeing the paleness in his friends face he asked, "What was yours Yumi?"

"I'd rather not talk about it," he replied as he helped a visibly shaken Rikichi out of the room.

"That bad, eh?"

"Ya have no idea," stumbled Ikkaku as leaned against a large chunk of rock for support. "I think 'm gunna hurl..." He scrambled over the rock and could be heard retching behind it. Wiping his mouth on his sleeve as he climbed back over, "Can we juss get outta here? I really don't wanna hang around anymore."

"Yeah, let's get moving before something comes and finds us."

"Did ya hear that?"

"I think so... Sounded like a wall getting blasted..."

"Think we should go that a way?"

"Tch... might not run into anyone friendly if we go that way."

"Sure as hell won't if we keep going this way."

"True enough..." he reached a junction and turned right, towards the sounds of walls being destroyed. He ran for all of five minutes before he came out into a large room, a single creature standing in the center.

"Hello Kurosaki-san," it greeted. "I am pleased you have made it this far."

"Here we go..." sighed Ichigo.

Hichigo squealed for glee, "Yay! Lemmie fight him!"

"Only if he's strong enough. I don't need you bringing the ceiling down on my head."

" Come onnnnnnnnnnnnnn King!"

"Tell you what, you can play with Aizen all you want, 'kay?"

"Fine."

"Thank you."

"If you are finished conversing with your Hallow, may we begin?"

"Don't really see the point. You're not an Arrancar, nor are you much of a Hallow anymore."

"True, I may not be a true Arrancar, but I still am just as powerful in this form as I was as a Gillian."

"Then this will be over soon."

"We shall see," it said and dissapeared.

"Sonido, eh? I keep telling you guys...," he said before disappearing. He reappeared, Zangetsu clanking against the armored arm of the creature, "...That's nothing but a cheap imitation." Putting his weight behind the blade, he shoved the creature backwards. He waited just long enough for it to hit the ground before calling out, "Getsuga Tenshou!" The blast engulfed the monster as Ichigo shunpo-ed back away from the flying shrapnel created by the attack. He waited for the dust to clear before asking, "Still confident you'll win?"

"Heheh. Not bad Ichigo." It stood up and patted the dust from it's torn clothing. A large burn covered it's arms and chest, evidence of the power behind the attack. "You'll still have to do better then that."

"Figured that out already," he said as he vanished.

The creature vanished as well.

There was a loud crash as the two reappeared, the creature blocking Zangetsu with it's armored arms yet again. "You will not win if you continue with such predictable attacks."

"Who said anything about predictable?" he asked as he flipped the blades edge and slashed downwards, freeing his blade. Quickly changing the arc, he slashed under the thing's guard, leaving a deep and bloody trail through it's vulnerable belly.

Slashing with strength born of anger and pain, the creature tore Ichigo's already battered sleeve and left an oozing trail of claw marks along the length of the vaizards upper arm. Rotating on one foot, Ichigo went for another arcing slash, this time lower, aiming for the legs. It jumped, clearing the blade easily, landing behind him. Ichigo, using a trick he'd picked up from a kid in Renji's division once when he sat in on a training session, fell backwards, the razor sharp blade pointed up, using his weight and the enemies confusion to his advantage. He caught it just above it's left ear, Zangetsu's blade slicing easily through skin and breaking bone until it lodged deeply in the thing's left lung region. Howling in pain and fury, hacking up blood like it was nobodies business, the thing tried to punch Ichigo with it right hand, but the blade still embedded in it's body prevented that kind of movement. Rolling to the side and back to his feet, Ichigo wrenched Zangetsu out of the creature and lunged forward, spearing it through the heart. Forcing the blade to turn outward, he sliced cleanly through through it's rib cage and out the other side, taking a good chunk of lung tissue with it. "Didn't see that one coming, eh?"

Ichigo snapped his wrist, giving Zangetsu a quick flick, ridding it of most of the gore, but not the blood.

"Told you I didn't need you yet."

"Feh, whatever. Let's just get going, that thing reeks."

"Right or left?"

"Right."

"Left."

"Neither."

"Blast the wall down."

"Okaaaaaaay then..."

"Just go left," said Isshin as he and Yuroichi turned and started running down the corridor...

Only to re-appear three seconds later being chased by mutilated experiments.

"Right!" he called as he ran down the other corridor.

They all darted into the other corridor and Rukia collapsed the junction with a quick, "Shakkahou!"

"Well, we're definitely getting closer..."

"Yeah... kinda figured that out."

Ichigo ran through a junction quickly, not bothering to look down it at all. The roaring commotion that came a second later made him stop and rethink his 'blaze-through-all-junctions-without-looking' policy, however. A dozen or so of Aizen's pets came storming out of the other hallway and after him. "Course the halls are too narrow for Getsuga Tenshou..." he growled as he sped up.

A barrage of needles just missing his shoulder made him stop and turn around.

"So it's gunna be like that, eh!" He used the broad side of Zangetsu as a partial shield from the roaring flames that threatened to roast him. "Screw tight spaces!" he roared as he raised Zangetsu. "Getsuga Tenshou!" He didn't stop to see the effect of the devastating attack, opting to shunpo away before the ceiling caved in.

"Tha hell was that!" called Ikkaku as a giant explosion racked the castle.

"Thats Ichigo!" yelled Isshin and Renji simultaneously.

"Which way did it come from?"

Renji had stopped running and had his eye's closed. "It's too distorted in here... can't get a lock..."

Isshin's eyes were also closed, "It feels like it's coming from..." he raised and arm and turned until he stopped at the point where the reiatsu felt the strongest, "... that way."

He was pointing at the solid wall they where running along.

"Great..."

"There's another junction coming up, we can hang a right there and follow it as best we can."

"It'll hafta do," said Renji as he resumed running.

"Oh great..." grumbled Ichigo as he ran out of the corridor and into a very large hall. "Now what...?"

"So good of you to join me Kurosaki."

He turned and groaned, face palming hard.

Aizen was sitting in his throne, that benignly insane grin on his face. "I see you made it past my guards."

"You had guards?" blinked Ichigo. "You mean the thing I killed twenty minutes ago? Or the one I buried under half a ton of rock and mortar ten minutes after that?"

"Oh yes, I forgot. I posted the bulk of the guards at the other entrance to this room." He gestured vaguely towards an opening on the other wall, directly across from where Ichigo stood. "Your friends should be arriving shortly, if you wish to wait."

"Do I have much of a choice?"

"You may attack now if you like, but I would advise against it. You are no match for me, as we have already established. You would be wise to wait for assistance."

"You do know you are going to die by the end of this battle, right?"

"We shall see Kurosaki. We shall see."

"Okay, does anyone else think that having two dozen guards lining one hallways is a good indication of which way to go?"

"When isn't havin' two dozen guards 'n a hallway a good sign?" came the sarcastic reply.

"Shut up Ikkaku..."

"We have to go that way to get to Ichigo."

"Good enough for me," shrugged Yuroichi. "Who's going to go first?"

"Close-quarters aren't my forte, at least if you want a way out when I'm done."

"I could Bankai and drain their energy, but you would also be affected."

"No good there... I guess us taicho's could take um alone."

"You're not leaving the rest of us out Renji," said Rikichi bravely.

"There's just not enough space for all of us to fight in kid. Sorry, but this is a job for the big dogs."

"Rikichi, let them do this alone," said Rukia calmly. "We can't afford to waste time with a big battle."

"Fine..." he sighed, stepping back away from the entrance to the corridor.

"On three..."

"One..."

"Two..."

"THREE!"

"I believe I hear your comrades," said Aizen calmly over the roar of the battle taking place just outside the room. "I daresay they took their sweet time getting here."

"Oh shut up already."

"Temper, temper Kurosaki."

"I'm getting really sick and tired of listening to you."

"Well, you shall have your chance to fight back soon. And I am so looking forward to it."

"Whatever you 'bat-shit-insane-Hallow-loving-dictator-with-a-god-complex'."

The Arrancar that had 'healed' him growled and lunged, "Insulting the master means death!"

Ichigo dodged the flying lunge and slashed with Zangetsu, nicking the creature's shoulder as it flew past him. "Getsuga Tenshou!" he called and and obliterated the mess of Hallow parts.

"Good show boy. I do so enjoy your displays of power."

"Pervert," he spat as he brushed the dust off his shihaksho.

"Tousche Kurosaki," he said, still grinning creepily. That he didn't deny it made Ichigo shudder.

There was a loud explosion from the corridor the others fought in and a cloud of dust and rock 'whooshed' out.

"That can't be good..."

"Come on guys! Get past while we can still hold them!"

"We're coming already! Just hold on a few seconds more!"

Renji crushed the mask of the guard he was holding back with his hand and it disintegrated. He was already moving to help Shyuuhei when there was a giant explosion far away. The roof, already unsteady from all the fighting, started collapsing. "RUN!"

Creatures screamed as pieces of rock and mortar fell on them, crushing the life out of them.

A massive crack appeared, running haphazardly through the center of the ceiling faster then any of them could run.

"It's coming down! Get out of the way!"

They all shunpo-ed as fast as they could out of the corridor, just managing to escape in a cloud of dust and rock as the entire corridor collapsed behind them, trapping the surviving guards and blocking their escape route.

"Welcome my friends! So good of you to finally join us!"

Ichigo's attention was focused on the slowly dispersing cloud of dust on the other end of the hall. Slowly, ever so slowly, he was able to discern the shapes of people, all holding their zanpakto out and ready to fight.

"Ichigo?"

"Renji !"

"!" yelled Isshin as he flying-tackled the boy to the ground.

"Get off me old man!" roared the now pissed teen as he shoved his father off of him. Jumping back to his feet he yelled, "Are you that insane Goat-face! Why the hell did you tackle me when Aizen's sitting less then a hundred feet away!"

"Because your papa's missed you!" he replied in his usual insane voice, manic grin firmly in place.

"Can't you ever take anything seriously!"

All traces of the happy-go-lucky Isshin dissapeared faster then you can blink an eye. "Yes, but I thought you'd enjoy the familiarity of it."

"Maybe if we weren't being stared down by the fucking enemy then I might have," he conceded, much to his father's delight.

"Yes, well, as much as I enjoy watching old friends and family greet each other after such a long separation, I do have a schedule to keep, which means I must cut this reunion short." He leaned forward and with a mad twinkle in his eye said, "Shall we begin?"

"Bit cramped in here, dont'cha think?" asked Renji sarcastically.

"I agree," nodded Aizen. "It is a bit too cramped to fight properly." He waved vaguely and the floor began to vibrate.

"What tha hell !"

"The floor's rising!"

"Yes," confirmed Aizen. "Do not worry," he said in what he must have thought was a reassuring manner. Course, reassuring for him was down right creepy to a normal person. "I am merely moving us to a venue more appropriate for our fight." The roof parted and they passed through the giant opening, emerging and stopping level with a large courtyard in the very center of the castle. "I believe this is large enough for our needs, don't you agree?"

"Well hell, if we'd know it was this easy ta get ta his throne room, we never would've bothered with trying ta go through tha castle like we did. Juss could a broken down a wall an collapsed tha ceiling over it."

Aizen, still grinning in his creepily calm manner, stood from his throne and stepped down onto the floor at it's base. "I shall allow you a moment to say your final goodbyes before I destroy you."

"Well aren't you just full of yourself," said Isshin. "But then again, you always were confident in your abilities."

"A God has a right to be," he said in his defense.

"And you," growled Renji as his reiatsu spiked, "are not a God." He nodded to Ichigo and called out, "Bankai!" The dust from the previous explosion, combined with the blowing sands of Hueco Mundo combined to hide him from view as Zabimaru grew into it's Bankai form and his shihaksho changed to accommodate the fur coat. "Hihiou Zabimaru!

"Bankai!" called Ichigo as he ran behind and towards Renji, coat already changed to match Zangetsu's and the chain-links at the hilt of his sword ringing, ready to assume his usual position in the tag-team battle style they'd developed over the years. "Tensa Zangetsu!"

Already changing to the purest white and a long ribbon extending from the hilt, "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!"

"Bankai! Ryumon Hotsukimaru!" Hotsukimaru changing into an enormous monk's spade with an equally large dadao, both connected to an oversized Halberd blade with a parallel handle, a dragon crest on one side.

Yumichika called out elegantly, "Sake, Fuji Kujaku!" and his blade separated in to four curved scythe blades.

Yuroichi's arms, shoulders, and legs began to glow with the energy of her Shunka.

Isshin's zanpakto was out, but he'd yet to release it at all.

The same went for Rikichi, but his lack of Shikai was entirely due to the fact that he'd been reduced to kneeling and barely able to support himself with his shaky arms by the awesome amount of spiritual pressure in the room that was slowly crushing him.

Zabimaru reared up so that it's head was fifty feet above the courtyard, it's body having already encircled it several times. It roared in anticipation, ready for this battle. Ichigo stood on top of it's head, hair blanched to a pale yellow in the perpetual moonlight of Hueco Mundo.

"I see," nodded Aizen, drawing Kyoka Suigetsu. "Am I correct in assuming that you wish to begin?"

"Just shut up and die already!" roared Ichigo as he launched a full power Getsuga Tenshou at the crazed ex-taicho. Zabimaru roared and dived, following the path of the blast and blasting a full power Hikotsu Taiho. The two blast of energy met and mingled just before they would have hit Aizen, combining and amplifying their already awesome power.

Aizen deflected the blast with a flick of his suddenly released zanpakto. The burst of reiatsu that accompanied the the flick was enough to push Zabimaru off it's path and into a nearby wall.

"First Dance: Tsukishiro!" Aizen didn't even blink as he was swallowed by the giant glacier that Shirayuki created.

"Did you really think that would work?"

Rukia turned around quickly and came face to chest with Aizen.

"Not really," she said truthfully. "Just testing."

"Testing?"

"Yeah, testing," she nodded.

"Getsuga Tenshou!"

"Hikotsu Taiho!" called Renji, Zabimaru aiming for the same a stretch of empty wall as Ichigo had and Rukia shunpo-ed out of the way as fast as she could.

Aizen deflected the blast with a hand. "You can see through my Shikai, eh? Well, that certainly is interesting. Tell me, how long did it take Urahara to figure the out?"

"All of a week," answered Isshin just before he shunpo-ed to where Aizen was standing. Sword raised for an attack, "Kinda defeats the purpose of a hypnosis technique, doesn't it?"

Aizen chuckled and grabbed Isshin's zanpakto from behind, "True, but I don't really need my Shikai's hypnosis ability to defeat you, now do I Isshin?"

"Still as quick as ever," he laughed, ducking his head so that Yuroichi's kick would clear.

"Even quicker," he said, from the other end of the courtyard.

Zabimaru roared and Renji called out, "Now!"

Ichigo, Hallow mask fully over his face and grinning manically bellowed, "Getsuga Tenshou!"

Aizen deflected the blast, but nearly lost his hand in the process. "Curious," he said, examining the burn and nearly crushed bones of his left wrist. "That was an extraordinarily powerful blast Kurosaki. You have been training rather hard, haven't you? That's the only way an insolent little insect like you would be able to injure one such as me."

It was Hichigo that responded, "Like I been tellin' ya fer nearly a year now, dumbass: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but you'll never beat me!"

"What're ya all standing around fer! Attack!" yelled Renji at the stunned shinigami.

Ikkaku swung Ryumon Hotsukimaru rapidly around himself. He charged the insane man with a growl, lashing out with both the spade and dadao ends. Aizen raised Kyoka Suigetsu to parry the dadao and used a burst of reiatsu to stop the spade. Kyoka Suigetsu sang from the impact, blade vibrating visibly.

Yumichika was already behind Aizen. With a call of, "Sakikurue!" he began siphoning off Aizen's reiatsu as quickly as he could without affecting any of the others.

Isshin was using his speed to hide in plain sight, disappearing and reappearing in a random fashion, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Shyuuhei was also waiting for a chance to get in and attack, but he was using the undulating form of Zabimaru to hide instead of his speed.

"So these are the brave defenders of Soul Society, eh? Too terrified to come out of hiding and fight me head-on."

"Black Sarcophagus!" called Isshin from ten feet to the right of Aizen, who was surrounded by a black cube of energy for nearly a minute before reappearing, robes torn to shreds and small gashes all over his arms and back.

"For someone that has renounced his shinigami abilities for as long as you have Isshin, that was a particularly powerful spell. I did not believe it possible to harness a full seventy-five percent of a level 90 kidou without chanting the full spell."

"You're not the only one in the room that's managed to master the four fighting styles of the shinigami," he retorted as he lunged at Aizen, zanpakto raised to chest level.

Aizen parried the attack with Kyoka Suigetsu. "Well then, that little tidbit of information has made this fight that much more interesting."

Zabimaru roared and reared up to it's fullest height. Aizen glanced up, expecting to see Ichigo standing on his usual perch, but the teen was nowhere to be seen. He glanced down, thinking he was going to attack from ground level, but was again disappointed. "And where is Ichigo? Has he abandoned you?"

"Black Sarcophagus!"

"First Dance: Tsukishiro!"

Two shouts of, "Shakkahou!"

"Getsuga Tenshou!"

"Hikotsu Taiho!"

Aizen was simultaneously surrounded by the powerfully destructive level 90 kidou, swallowed by a glacier, blasted by two glowing red balls of pure energy, and shattered by the most powerful combination of Getsuga Tenshou and Hikotsu Taiho that Ichigo and Renji could produce. Without Ichigo's Hallow helping, that is.

There was dead quiet as they waited for the dust and smoke to clear.

"Kukuku... I must congratulate you on such a powerful array of attacks," laughed Aizen as the smoke cleared and he returned to view. Blood flowed freely down his left arm, and Kyoka Suigetsu was still held limply in his right. "No one has ever been able to injury me to this degree. I must admit, there is a possibility that I could lose this fight."

"Yer damn right yer gunna lose!" called Renji from where he stood, Zabimaru roaring in agreement above him.

"That is assuming of course that I continue this fight on my own..." he continued calmly as he raised a hand and gestured to the sky.

"If you are calling for your Arrancar," came a calm voice from above them, "then you shall be waiting for a very long time."

They all looked up and grinned. Hitsugaya Toshiro was hovering thirty feet above the far wall, the icy wings of his Bankai spread so that they caught and reflected the weak moonlight of Hueco Mundo and glowered a brilliant silver. "We have dispatched with the last of them. It is over Aizen. You have lost."

"That is where you are wrong Toushiro. This battle is far from over. Have you forgotten about my other allies and their marvelous abilities?"

"Too bad for you, Sosuke; we've got eight division's surrounding the castle and your armies are completely decimated."

"Ahhhhh... I see we are to be joined by Kyouraku as well. This certainly is turning into an interesting battle."

"Oh just shut up and die already!" said Ichigo as he leaped up on Zabimaru's head.

Everyone moved to encircle the man, ensuring he could not escape the final blasts.

"Ganging up on little old me? That's not very nice," he chuckled, obviously amused by everything.

"Your over confidence will be your undoing, Sosuke!" called Isshin loudly.

"It's not overconfidence if you have the power to prove it," he answered calmly.

Ichigo leveled Zangetsu, pointing directly at Aizen's heart. "This is your last chance to surrender Aizen."

"Surrender?" he returned, laughing heartily. "You actually believe I would surrender?"

"Can't say I didn't warn you..."

Zabimaru roared, the signal everyone had been waiting for.

Yumichika resumed draining the rest of Aizen's power as fast as he possibly could.

"Senkei, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi." Four rows of swords appeared around them as the second stage of Byakuya's Bankai was activated.

Hitsugaya called out "Sennen Hyoro!" and pillars of ice encased Aizen.

"First Dance: Tsukishiro!" A fresh glacier of ice enclosed Aizen, adding to Toushiro's own.

Yumichika, know exactly what was about to happen, got the hell away from Aizen before he was caught in the crossfire.

"Next Dance: Hakuren!"

Calls of, "Shakkahou!"

Yuroichi, having seen Sado's attacks so often, had actually managed to modify her Shunka to create a similar attack, and so instead of risking getting caught by the cross-fire, blasted Aizen from a distance.

Kyouraku slashed with Katen Kyokotsu, sending tornadoes and blades of wind at the ex-taicho.

The dragon crest on the side of Ryumon Hotsukimaru glowed bright red as it's full power finally awakened and Ikkaku dove into the fight, attacking wildly and without abandon, until the edges of his zanpakto, which were rendered brittle by the insane amount of power it was channeling, where reduced to dust. He pulled back to give the next attacker a clear shot at the insane madman.

Zaraki and Yachiru darted forward before anyone else had a chance to even prepare for an attack. The group stared at them as Zaraki cackled madly, surrounded by the dust, sand, and other junk in the air. They appeared from the smoke cloud a half a minute later, satisfied smirks on both their faces.

Two calls of, "Black Sarcophagus!"

Byakuya, seizing his chance yet again called out, "Gokei!" and every one of the blade that surrounded them rose into the air and fired at Aizen from ever possible angle.

Renji had to maneuver Zabimaru to avoid some of the blades, but he avoided any nasty friendly fire incidents.

Hitsugaya, not wanting to miss out, stabbed with Hyourinmaru and called, "Ryusenka!"

Ichigo, fully transformed into his Hallow form and Zabimaru roaring a counterpoint screeched out "Getsuga Zangetsu!"

Renji bellowed, "Hikotsu Taiho!"

The two blasts mingled into the most powerful attack the two shinigami could produce.

The explosion from the massive amount of energy mingling into what had to be the most devastating volley of attacks ever launched in the history of existence caused everyone to duck for cover from the dancing lightning and flying shrapnel.

Hitsugaya used his wings to fan away the dust. Just before the area cleared enough to be visible, there was a sickening crack! and a sharp thud!

Aizen still stood, barely, but the damage of the attack was horribly evident.

Missing an arm, the other torn wide open and bleeding profusely, Kyoka Suigetsu lay at his feet, still clutched tight by the severed stump. His face was ripped open, one eye closed tight from pain, the other glaring death. His legs where shaking so badly that even Hitsugaya, hovering so high above the arena of battle, could easily see it. His robes hung open, barely hanging on to his battered form. There was a long, deep gash across his chest, the skin surrounding it burned horribly. It was faint, but the sounds of his breath wheezing in his chest could be heard; the broken ribs and punctured lungs evident to one with a trained ear.

"Still standing, eh?" asked Ichigo as he landed lightly twenty feet in front of him, hallow form dissolving and returning him to his normal Bankai form. "Well then, I'll just have to fix that." Ichigo shimmered for a moment, his coat returning to normal and Zangetsu changing back to it permanent cleaver-formed Shikai. His mask was still visible, half covering his face, both eyes still black and gold. There was no way that Hichigo was going to be left out of this, and frankly Ichigo wanted him there.

"I'm not wheeze beaten yet wheeze Kurosaki wheeze. I will not wheeze lose!"

"Ya already did," said Renji calmly as he allowed Zabimaru to return to it's Shikai form.

Hitsugaya landed twenty feet away, his icy wings disintegrating as Hyourinmaru returned to it's fulled sealed state and he sheathed it. "Say your final goodbye's Aizen."

"I WILL NOT LOSE!" he bellowed, raising his remaining hand jerkily and chanting the most powerful spell he could think of.

Renji slashed with Zabimaru, the blade lengthening and sliced Aizen in half.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" bellowed Ichigo, finally ending the fight. Aizen dissapeared in a flash of light and when it faded, there was nothing left but the torn scraps of his robes and Kyoka Suigetsu, slowly dissolving along with the remains of it's master's right arm.

They stood in silence, no one believing it was finally over.

Then the castle began falling apart around them.

"Fer crying out loud...! It's fucking deja vu all over again!"

"Everyone out!" bellowed Isshin as they ran towards the outer wall.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" called Ichigo as he blasted the wall apart so that they could escape.

Renji grabbed Rikichi, who'd recovered enough to help in the final attack but could not yet walk, and carried him as he ran for the exit.

They ran for all they were worth, too tired to even think of Shunpo anymore.

It wasn't until they'd cleared the ruins and met up with the army that any of them stopped to think again.

A resounding cry of "Ichigo!" and "Kurosaki-kun!" was what it took to get them to finally stop running.

"Did you do it! Did we win!" demanded Kira, still holding Wabisuke. Komomura was a few feet behind him, a few cuts and scratches on his arms and his armor cracked and broken, but otherwise okay.

Ichigo looked up at them, an oddly blank look on his face, "Yeah... It's over."

A deafening round of cheering exploded from the shinigami.

"Send word back to Yamamoto-soutaicho! The war's over! Aizen has fallen!"

"Return to your divisions," said Byakuya, the note of pride and relief in his voice not completely hidden. "The sooner we finish here, the faster we can go home."

Of course, no one listened to him as shinigami from every division crowded around Ichigo, desperate to see him, hear him speak, make sure that he really was there, and that the war was really over at last.

"Back off!" bellowed Renji as he, Shyuuhei, and Isshin shoved them away. "Give 'em some air!"

"You heard Kuchiki-taicho! Get back to your divisions and get organized so we can get the hell out of here!"

Ichigo was being overwhelmed by the noise and attention he was getting. He felt light headed and nauseous, his legs where turning to lead, and it was becoming hard to balance.

"Ichigo?"

The orange-haired teen looked up and blinked, trying to clear his fuzzy vision. He kept trying to make all the extra Renji's dancing in front of him go away so he could focus on the one that was talking to him, but for some odd reason he couldn't. Then the world went black, and the last thing he could remember before he was completely unconscious was a strained shout of "Ichigo!", the sensation falling, and the feeling of warm, strong arms around his chest.


End file.
